The Rise of the Black Plain

When Wren stepped forward, Minos immediately saw that space and time had suddenly stopped functioning normally.

The surroundings changed as pulses of spiritual energy surged from this woman's body, the strongest Minos had ever seen.

Her eyes brightly shone as Minos frowned and took a step backward.

Amidst his strangeness, he found himself outside the temple from earlier, now in a place that looked like a gigantic stone labyrinth, completely orange.

'What's that? Her innate ability?' He wondered, looking from side to side with his visual ability.

Unfortunately, this woman's skill was so much stronger than all of Minos' abilities that he saw nothing to indicate that this was just an illusion.

From his point of view, reality had suddenly changed, and nothing in his surroundings gave any sign that this was not the actual reality!

"That is a shocking skill, elder!" He sincerely said as he made a combat stance, preparing for whatever this woman was planning.

Minos could no longer see Aarav and Julian, but Wren stood before him, slowly taking steps toward him.

"Minos Stuart, as of now, you are under the Infinite Judgment." She said in a calm tone, "Be prepared. I have no intention of hurting you, but to test you, I will have to make you reach your limit.

Are you prepared? Do you have any questions? This is your last chance to say anything."

Upon hearing this, Minos did not back down and asked. "May I know what kind of test this is?"

"You will find out. I will test your skills while the council elders watch you. You will be approved if you get at least half of their support. Otherwise, you will have to try to join us again when you become a Demigod." After those words, her body began to disappear while the labyrinth walls moved like puzzle pieces.

"Good luck."

Minos frowned at this expert's vague words but accepted the situation, preparing himself for whatever it was.

As he circulated his energies, looking from side to side, a gigantic piece of this puzzle suddenly plummeted above where Minos was standing.

Seeing a shadow appearing above him, Minos immediately looked up and saw what appeared to be an entire mountain falling on top of him.

He immediately tried to move, but as he did so, semi-transparent chains appeared on his ankles, preventing him from escaping.

'I can't escape. Those chains are so strong they can hold a level 98 Demigod!' Minos looked down at his feet and felt the surroundings getting darker and darker as that 'mountain' fell on him.

'That must be the first test! Is she testing my resilience?' He looked up and clenched his fists.

Then Minos circulated his energies and formed his Soul Avatar, immediately activating the Indestructible Body.

A golden layer appeared around his entire soul projection, nut failing to cover the large shackles that had become larger to bind his avatar.

He then tried to activate Chaotic Gravity, but when he did, a gray ring appeared around his body, blocking the entire gravitational effect of his technique.

Minos frowned as he noticed this and immediately tried to use another of his techniques, Divine Seal.

But a new ring made of chains appeared around him, blocking his technique.

'Hmm, it seems that her innate ability is quite powerful. She can block the techniques she gave her victims... Impressive.' Minos thought, sensing that this woman wanted to test his defensive techniques.

Since he only had one of them focused on defense, he immediately focused all his attention on the Indestructible Body as he put his arms up, preparing to withstand the collision with that thing.

The next instant, the puzzle piece reached his position, crashing against his open hands.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

A cry of pain broke from Minos' mouth as his legs and arms buckled, and he felt pain all over every part of his Soul Avatar.

Meanwhile, outside that illusion-realist, the three other council members of that organization were watching Minos under Wren's test.

Screens in front of each of these men, including Julian and Aarav, showed everything happening inside the illusion created by Wren.

"This young man's defensive technique is really supreme. He has reached a level where his body is as strong as a low-level grade-4 shield, almost on edge for the medium-level."

"Hmm, even though he is a level 80 Spiritual Sage, he is holding up 'well' to the level 90 pressure from Wren's hands. But will he hold out any longer?" A blond, less elderly-looking man than some of his level 99 companions said this.

Julian was looking at the screen before him, seeing a giant hand pressing against the puzzle piece above Minos.

Seeing the elder Wren using precisely the power level of a level 90 Demigod, someone they accepted into their organization if they met other criteria, he couldn't help but smile nervously.

Julian had seen from his innate ability that Minos was weaker if he had some of his characteristics blocked, as the elder was doing at the moment.

So he was afraid that Minos would fail and lose his chance to become a member of this group!

Elder Wren would push him for five minutes, so enduring the first few moments of this test didn't mean that Minos would pass it successfully!

"Julian, this boy is talented, but I still see no reason for you to speak on his behalf." An elderly man with silver hair, dressed in a golden cloak, said this.

Julian looked at the oldest of the council elders and said respectfully. "Elder Merritt, young Minos' main skill makes him very strong, but to use it, he needs people in his surroundings to strengthen him.

Without it, he cannot do much of the things that have caught my attention."

"So he depends on others to be powerful?"

"Yes, but they don't have to be allies or acquaintances. There just has to be someone not so powerful that he has no chance of fighting with them for young Minos to be able to use them to strengthen himself." Julian said, trying not to make Minos seem dependent on allies.

If Minos' ability only worked with people in his group, then this, while useful, would not be so good, as one could not always rely on friends and allies.

But if his ability worked the same way on enemies and strangers, then since there would always be beings in every corner of the Spiritual World, he could always count on such an ability.

That was a very good thing!

"Oh?"

...