Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me-Chapter 694: A Heart

The pillars of light went out.

There was no countdown. No official announcement. Suddenly, the ground beneath the five remaining participants cracked open and a massive fissure split the earth apart. The rocks collapsed and they fell into the depths of darkness without any chance to react.

But this was not a normal fall.

The walls around them were made of bone. Enormous bones with energy still flowing through the cracks. The deeper they went, the heavier the air became. Breathing grew harder. And then... they heard it.

Boom...

A deep, heavy pulse that did not just shake the ears, but the bones.

Boom...

With every beat, an invisible wave of gravity spread through the space and distorted their falling path. Vaerion tried to stabilize himself, but the next wave slammed him into the wall. Elyndra released a purple flame to slow herself down. Vermyros roared and opened his half-draconic wings to regain balance.

Daniel, however... just watched.

His eyes pierced through the darkness. He could feel the pulse. This was not simply a heart. It was something between life and death. Not fully alive. Not truly dead either.

Finally, they landed on a stone platform deep below.

The underground space was as large as a city. The ceiling could not be seen. At the center, something was floating.

A heart.

A heart the size of a fortress. Black, cracked veins ran across its surface. Dark flames leaked from its fissures. Golden chains of light held it suspended in the air. With every beat, the ground trembled and a wave of pressure spread outward.

The voice of the Goddess echoed in the space.

"This heart belongs to the first dragon who rebelled against me. He was from the lineage of the earliest dragons. His essence was made of law."

A heavy silence followed.

"Phase Two of the Trial: Approach the heart and touch its flame. Whoever succeeds will qualify to continue."

"Also, regarding the reward of the previous phase, you may receive it now, or wait until the end of the Trial and obtain a far greater reward."

No further explanation was given.

A panel appeared in front of each remaining participant.

[ Do you wish to receive your reward? ]

Daniel chose to decline. He was confident he could win this Trial. He did not need a reward right now.

Vermyros seemed to make the same choice. His pride likely did not allow it. From his perspective, accepting the reward now meant he lacked confidence to move forward.

However, Rhaenyra and the other two dragons accepted their rewards. It was unclear what each of them received, and they chose not to reveal it.

But from their expressions, it was obvious the rewards were extremely valuable.

Vermyros was the first to step forward. His pride would not allow him to fall behind.

In the previous phase, he had lost to Daniel. It was impossible for him to accept losing again. No matter what happened, he had to be the first to win this phase.

His red flame ignited and he roared as he charged toward the heart.

But with the next beat—

Boom!

A gravitational wave smashed him into the ground. The stone beneath him shattered. His knees trembled. He gritted his teeth and stood up again.

Elyndra chose a different path. She tried to resist the pressure with her purple flame. But the closer she got, the more the heart’s black flames devoured her own.

Vaerion stopped. He closed his eyes and tried to analyze the rhythm of the pulse. But each wave pressured not only the body, but the mind as well.

Rhaenyra moved more slowly. Her gaze remained fixed on the heart. She had realized that this pressure was not only physical. It was testing willpower.

The pressure affected almost every dimension of their existence. Their entire being was under extreme strain, as if they could collapse at any moment.

And among all of them, Daniel stepped forward.

The Law of Death moved within him. The heart was half-dead. Something standing at the boundary was weaker within his domain. The Law of Eternity flowed through his sword.

The Heavens Honor appeared in his hand.

With the next beat—

Boom!

The others were forced to the ground.

But around Daniel, the gravitational wave split apart. Not destroyed, but redirected. Death defines the moment of ending.

Eternity stabilizes that ending. He made the pressure "finite." And allowed it to pass around him.

Vermyros stared in disbelief. How was this possible?

All of them had been slammed to the ground without being able to resist at all, yet this bastard’s hair did not even move.

What exactly was going on? Just how powerful was he?

Daniel continued forward without hesitation.

One of the golden chains suddenly trembled and a black flame shaped like a serpent lunged toward him. This was the first true obstacle. The heart’s test.

Daniel raised his sword.

"Grave Horizon."

The blade moved through the air, drawing a dark line before the flame. The flame collided with it, and in that instant, the horizon of death expanded. The flame’s energy reached its endpoint. It did not simply extinguish. It reached its "point of termination" and collapsed.

The next beat was even stronger.

The ground cracked open and creatures rose from the darkness; figures made of black flame, half-dragon, half-shadow.

The second test.

It was clear that the pressure alone was not the only weapon of the heart. It had many more ways to prevent them from approaching.

Elyndra tried to destroy one, but each of her strikes was deflected by gravitational waves. Vaerion wounded one but was knocked to the ground himself. Vermyros attacked with all his strength and tore one apart... but the creature regenerated.

Daniel moved forward.

"Eternal Null Field."

The space around him dimmed. Energies slowed. Flames trembled. The Law of Eternity disrupted their continuity. What was meant to burn endlessly became unstable.

He walked through them. His blade moved once.

"Silent Extinction."

This time, the strike did not target their bodies, but their connection to the heart. The link was severed. One after another, the creatures collapsed and turned into light. Not true death. But elimination from the test.

Vaerion tried to stand again. The next wave swallowed him. His body turned into particles of light.

The first elimination of this phase was decided.

"Four remain."

Elyndra tried to gather her remaining energy. But the mental pressure broke her. She dropped to her knees. Light enveloped her as well.

"Three remain."

Vermyros roared in anger. But even he understood that this level of pressure could not be overcome by raw power alone. His gaze met Daniel’s for a moment. For the first time, there was doubt in his eyes.

Rhaenyra whispered with a faint smile, "So it really is..."

The two of them retreated. They no longer dared to move forward recklessly. They had understood they had no chance of defeating this heart.

Was this where they would stop? Where they would fail? They had always heard that the Ancient Trial was extremely difficult, but this was even more savage than expected.

Daniel was now only a few steps away from the heart. No wave stopped him anymore. No flame reached him.

He was the first to reach the heart without real difficulty.

The heart pulsed before him. The black flame within its cracks flickered.

However, just as he thought, Phase Two did not end.

A faint roar echoed through the space. It was as if the heart reacted.

He extended his hand. His fingers touched the black flame.

At that moment, the world collapsed.

The light went out. The ground disappeared. Daniel entered a kind of mental realm. He stood in a completely white space.

And in front of him stood a massive dragon.

A dragon radiating intense killing intent, clearly intent on killing him.