Chapter 5: Trial Begins, Fear Demon Ambush
After the Rites of Communion concluded, the group reassembled.
Cheng Shi glanced at Chen Chong and noticed him holding a bottle of fruit wine, smiling at everyone as he said:
"I found today's [Order Anchor]. There was a bar buried beneath the rubble, and I dug through the gravel to uncover one of its rules: today, only fruit wine is served."
Saying this, Chen Chong passed the wine to the nearest teammate.
The bottle was pristine, without a speck of dust. This clearly hadn't been unearthed from ruins; it most likely came from his personal storage space.
Every player had a portable space roughly the size of a safe, used to store their most important possessions.
Cheng Shi had one too, filled with all sorts of oddities. What surprised him was that someone else shared his habit of stocking beverages in theirs.
"The pressure's immense. Can't sleep at night without a couple of drinks, so I always keep a few bottles on hand. One sip each, and the radiance of [Order] will protect you. Don't worry, it's low alcohol; it won't affect the upcoming combat."
The Rite of Communion for [Order] was to seek order. Only those who adhered to a set of rules or regulations could receive the blessing.
And for others to accept [Order]'s protection, they too had to obey whatever order had been found.
Simple rules clearly boosted everyone's safety index. Everyone was pleased as they passed the bottle around, each taking a dainty sip.
Only Cheng Shi, upon receiving it, gulped down half the bottle in steady, gurgling swallows.
Chen Chong's eyebrow twitched. He suddenly felt that this Priest wasn't entirely reliable.
Cao Sansui's Rite had also gone smoothly. He produced several golden pocket watches and began distributing them.
"I've anchored time and calibrated every watch. Each one will chime at five minutes, three minutes, and one minute before the hour. Everyone, mind your physical condition. A Time Walker can only decide when the [Time Battlefield] begins and ends, but cannot determine what state you'll be in inside it."
Seeing everyone studying the watches, Cao Sansui added:
"In case anyone's understanding of the [Time Battlefield] isn't perfectly clear, let me remind you all once more:
The Rite of Communion for [Time] is precision and punctuality.
Once I deploy the [Time Battlefield], we must open it on the hour and bring all combat and conflict to a close by another hour mark.
If we fail, we'll be trapped in an endless time loop until we succeed.
But each loop erodes our grasp on the concept of time. Excessive looping will leave us permanently lost in the river of time, unable to ever break free.
Remember: temporal rewind is not omnipotent."
Everyone acknowledged the instructions. Seeing that all were prepared, Chen Chong nodded and gazed into the distance:
"There are still some buildings to the east of this rubble field that haven't been completely destroyed. For safety's sake, let's take cover there first, until we understand the nature of the battlefield, or until we're forced into engagement. Agreed?"
"No objections." Xia Wan's tone remained as glacial as ever. "The history of the Land of Hope rarely records such merciless annihilation of towns. I suspect this trial is likely the Land of Hope Counteroffensive."
Cao Sansui gave a slight nod:
"Correct. Our position should be somewhere near Shaderleaf County. The Mage channel has quite a few researchers studying trial history. If what we're facing is truly the Land of Hope Counteroffensive, then what stands before us right now is most likely the right flank of the Bone Army."
Cheng Shi genuinely admired the people who researched trial history, because he never did, and lacked the patience to start.
In this bizarre world, simply staying alive already consumed half his mental energy.
As for the other half, he needed it for lying.
About two weeks after the [Faith Game] began, people noticed that each trial seemed to transport players into a world that had once existed.
Many were curious about this realm that existed solely within trials, so they began collecting background information, organizing it, and sharing it with the public through the class channels and faith channels.
Unfortunately, Cheng Shi's faith channel contained virtually nothing useful.
Every historical fragment about trial backgrounds he'd ever seen had come from the class channels.
He really was a Priest.
Chen Chong clearly wasn't a history buff either. Frowning, he asked:
"So?"
Xia Wan continued: "Information on the right flank's battles is scarce. If I recall correctly, the most frequently mentioned should be…"
Before she could finish, a piercing shriek suddenly tore through the sky from afar.
Everyone's expression shifted at the sound, and they snapped their heads toward it.
The distant sky had somehow turned ink-black. A suffocating swarm of black wings beat the air, descending like a storm, blotting out the heavens as they bore down.
"…Fear Demons."
Xia Wan's face darkened as she delivered the answer.
Fear Demons were hellish fiends born with fleshy wings, creatures that fed exclusively on terror and excelled at sowing chaos. They were followers of [Defilement], and the sworn enemies of [Birth].
Fear Demon
Judging by the horrifying numbers, if they actually engaged in combat, the six of them wouldn't even amount to an appetizer for this army.
"That's… way too many!"
Cheng Shi frowned and checked his pocket watch. The time had just passed the hour mark, reaching 9:01. The Time Battlefield apparently hadn't been deployed in time.
Cao Sansui's expression also shifted. Clearly, he hadn't anticipated such a rapid pace either, let alone encountering a flying army right off the bat.
"Brother Cao, your 1900-tier matches, are they at this scale??" Song Yawen asked, thunderstruck.
Cao Sansui swallowed bitter frustration inwardly. Bullshit, I've never seen this either.
"Fall back, fast! While we haven't been spotted, get to cover! They're on the march, we need to avoid a head-on confrontation. Move!"
Chen Chong roared the command, unslung the massive shield from his back, and muffled its glow as he led the group, bodies low, sprinting eastward.
Song Yawen charged ahead of the pack. The moment his body touched the shadows within the rubble, he dissolved into wisps of smoke and vanished from sight instantly.
It was an Assassin's class skill: Shadow Transit.
They prowled through darkness, slipped between shadows. Over short distances, they could reposition via shadows and conceal themselves within them.
This concealment wasn't physical hiding; it was a phase-shift into the shadow plane, a complete disappearance.
Xia Wan's speed was no slouch either. As a Hunter, agility was her calling card.
As she ran, she scattered Genesis Seeds across the ground.
These were trap items blessed by [Birth]. Any living creature that came into contact with the seeds would be subjected to [Birth]'s will, becoming overwhelmed by an irresistible compulsion to reproduce, rapidly gestating independent entities within its body that defied the host's own consciousness.
This was the primary offensive method of [Birth] followers. They never destroyed enemies directly; instead, they impregnated them, thereby twisting their wills and driving them to their own ruin.
Although the gods of the [Life] Destiny leaned toward orderliness, orderliness of will did not preclude physical distortion. In certain concrete manifestations, an orderly god was no less terrifying than a chaotic one.
It might even be worse.
"I need at least fifty-seven minutes and forty-two seconds to reset the Time Battlefield. During that window, I can only affect each of your individual time fields. Pray, friends. Let's hope they don't find us."
"Cut the chatter, use it now! Speed us up!"
Chen Chong's low roar pushed his sprint into an even higher gear.
Cao Sansui responded instantly: "Zone, Fast Forward!"
The words had barely left his lips when all five of them surged forward as though someone had hit a fast-forward button, covering nearly a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
Cheng Shi felt the wind beneath his feet, impossibly fast. Distances that would have taken minutes to cross took mere seconds.
Unfortunately, this acceleration effect only holds within a specific zone. The moment they left its boundaries, their speed plummeted back to baseline.
Cao Sansui, despite his high ranking, was visibly drained from accelerating such a large area in a single burst. Seeing him falter, Chen Chong grabbed him, hauled him onto his back, and kept running.
"Assassin, move ahead! Clear the rubble, find a strong point!"
"Nangong, restore the Mage's mental reserves! Offspring Priest, stay put, your turn hasn't come yet."
"Genesis Hunter, lay more traps! Fear Demon scouts won't stay airborne forever. Once they land, every second you can buy us counts!"
Chen Chong possessed sharp judgment and commanded with unflappable composure. He'd clearly fought his way to 1600 on pure merit.
But the situation was so dire that it left him no alternatives. As he ran, he frantically scanned for remnants of walls large enough to shelter six people, praying they could survive this catastrophe.
Yet the tide of battle shifted far faster than anticipated.
Before they could even reach the ruins ahead, the dense, seething swarm of Fear Demons was already diving toward the rubble.
Their scouts had detected the players long ago.
"Yaa, saa…"
Terrifying shrieks reverberated across the entire ruin field. The Fear Demons' excitement was palpable; they'd apparently found a "snack" during their march.
"Too late, the seeds are triggered! Contact!"
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