Legendary Architect of Apocalypse-Chapter 40: Aliath’s only failure

It was only the fourth day, and nine rankers had already died. The threshold for ending the test was ten deaths. One more death, and the test would end before the seventh day even arrived.

The highest-ranking participants became even more active, as this was their last opportunity to gain the top rank and the promised reward. All of them started going after the markers of other domain lords.

The weaker domain lords also didn’t want to be the ones who died right before the test ended. The moment they saw other domain lords approaching them, they started running from their own domains.

They wanted to survive, at least longer than another unlucky domain lord.

Everyone was in a race against time. Meanwhile, Elias was standing silently, observing the two bodies before him.

"Confirm Extraction." He placed his palm on the lean boy, whose ability had caught his attention. Even though he had never tried to extract permanent abilities, he wanted to test it at least once.

Even though he was trying it, he already expected a failure. Unlike those with temporary abilities, those from the Academy didn’t show a Material Composition screen.

With them, there was no screen that told him if extraction was even possible. He was prepared to be disappointed when he tried his skill.

..............

Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

..............

"Hmm?" Elias was prepared for failure. He already expected some kind of error, but the message that appeared left him slightly intrigued.

It didn’t simply say that extraction was impossible. It said that extraction had failed because his Evolution was insufficient. Did this mean his extraction ability would become stronger if he evolved his class?

He didn’t want to be too optimistic based on a simple message, but it made him a little hopeful. He moved on to the bulky boy who looked less like a child and more like a fully grown adult.

"Confirm Extraction."

..............

Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

..............

Once again, a similar error appeared. Elias was even more certain that the first message was not an error. There was truly a possibility of extraction. He was simply missing something.

With every passing moment, he was learning something new about his class. And each revelation made him realize just how many possibilities his class actually held.

"This is good. With this ability, I might be able to..." He looked at his hands, which were covered with the blood of the two that he had just killed.

If he wanted to have revenge, then he needed to become someone like Aliath whose name alone was enough to make people flinch in fear. If he couldn’t even surpass Aliath, then how could he bring the Ashborn Family down?

"I will surpass him..." He clenched his fists and stood up. He walked away from the two bodies that were slowly covered in a blanket of snow, buried without anyone there to even retrieve their bodies.

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Elias jumped out of the crater, and called forth another Snowmobile from his Spatial Storage. While he still had these temporary abilities, he wanted to put them to good use. And the best use he could think, was to complete something that even Aliath had failed in.

He climbed on the snowmobile, and started rushing forth. For the first time, he left his domain. But his target wasn’t another domain lord. His target was the one that brought this apocalypse to this world.

His target was the existence that was worth the highest point in this test. It was the Frost Queen. She was the only existence that could make him reach the first rank before the test ended.

....

The Frost Queen stood on the cliff with her hands behind her back, holding a file. Even as snow fell across the entire world, it didn’t touch her. It was as if she were a forbidden existence to the snow.

"It’s just like that day," she mumbled, overlooking the world embraced by frost.

"Ah, to think that the test ended so fast. If it went on a little longer, I could’ve finished you off." The mocking words were still fresh in her mind.

She subconsciously touched her forehead. She didn’t know if she should be grateful that she survived that day or be furious that she was made to live through such disgrace. Sometimes she thought that death would have been a better outcome.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the scene from that godforsaken day when she had received the wound on her forehead. Whenever she thought about that moment, her fists clenched involuntarily.

It was a scene that she could never forget as long as she lived. Aliath was standing next to her while she was lying on the ground.

The boy was only twelve years old at that time, but he was still carrying a spear that was twice his size. That spear was aimed at her forehead, its tip making her bleed.

There was no snow anywhere in the surroundings. There were only signs of a battle that had flattened an entire cliff.

Aliath also had a watch on his wrist that was constantly beeping. It was the automatic reminder that the test had ended, as the highest number of deaths had been achieved.

If the test had ended a little later, the spear wouldn’t have simply entered a mere inch into her forehead. It would have passed through her skull. She was certain.

Because she survived, it didn’t count as the completion of the third method, and Aliath didn’t receive any extra score. He was ranked tenth in that test.

Only a few people knew the reality of that day. It wasn’t that Aliath couldn’t get the first rank. It was simply that he went for the hardest option and ran out of time at the last moment because of variables related to other participants.

Many believed it to be the only moment of failure in his life. Aliath could tell others what he had achieved, but he didn’t seem to care about it either.