The door creaked open, and a cold gust of air swept past Stark and Sora as they stepped into the ominous surroundings of the [Death Vige].


    The vige itself looked like something torn from a nightmare.


    Crumbling houses, their windows shattered and walls lined with dark, twisted vines, nked the narrow streets.


    [You do not belong here.]


    A warning appeared before them.


    The two of them exchanged a nce, but still moved forward regardless.


    They were in the heart of one of the most dangerous ces imaginable, and the stakes were life or death.


    If you put it as if it was a normal rift, then the [Death Vige] would be a level 450-500 area, and Termina would be a level 500-600 area.


    "Stay close," Stark murmured, his eyes scanning everything for any sign of movement.


    Sora nodded silently, her hand already pulsing with green energy, ready to summon her vines at a moment''s notice.


    Despite the oppressive atmosphere, she remained calm—she trusted Stark.


    If anyone could pull off the impossible, it was him.


    The vige was silent, but it was a dangerous kind of quiet.


    Where were the other participants?


    With this many of them, there was no way to not find anybody.


    "Look," Sora pointed at their house, "We''re the only house close by, meaning that every house outside the square directs to a random street."


    "Oh," Stark nodded.


    They moved forward through the streets.


    It wasplete silence though, not a single monster or participant on sight.


    "These ''moonscorched beasts''... you think they''re watching us?" Sora asked, her voice low.


    "Don''t even know what they are," Stark shrugged.


    But suddenly, a sound broke the silence.


    Skrrt. Skrrt.


    It was faint at first, but unmistakable—the sound of something scratching against stone.


    Stark immediately stopped, motioning for Sora to do the same.


    His eyes locked onto a nearby alleyway, shrouded in darkness.


    The noise came again, a scraping sound, like ws dragging across the floor.


    Stark''s heart pounded in his chest as he squinted into the ckness.


    There was something there.


    Waiting.


    Without warning, a figure burst out from the shadows.


    Fwoosh!


    It moved faster than Stark could react, a blur of motion that shot straight toward him, ws outstretched, its eyes glowing with a sickly yellow light.


    Stark barely had time to raise fists.


    "FUCK!" Stark shouted instinctively.


    SLASH!


    -24772!


    His arm was shed by the creature''s ws, and Sora immediately kicked it away using her vines.


    -123623!


    The creature in front of him was monstrous, a grotesque fusion of human and beast.


    Its flesh was pale and cracked, with dark veins pulsing beneath its skin. Its elongated limbs ended in jagged, razor-sharp ws, and its face, if it could still be called a face, had the twisted shape of a human skull, its eyes glowing with a malevolent light.


    "PERCEPTION!"


    ...


    [Name: Moonscorched Viger]


    [Level: 500]


    [HP: 1,276,377/1,400,000]


    [Strength: 15373]


    [Stamina: 9462]


    [Speed: 19382]


    [Defense:11481]


    [Skills: Void Blink, Devouring Shadow, Lunar Howl, Moonlit Regeneration, Corruption Touch, Flesh Warp, Death Viger, Moonscorched...]


    ...


    "That thing..." Stark''s eyes widened.


    A level 500 monster.


    It had incredible high stats for amon monster.


    It surpassed the strength of the apostles in the [Devil''s Abyss] too.


    "You''re telling me... this is amon monster?" Stark''s face paled as he took his position.


    "Here ites!" Sora spoke, vines swirling in the air around her as she prepared to strike.


    The Moonscorched Viger blurred forward in a sh, using [Void Blink] to close the distance between them in the blink of an eye.


    Stark barely registered the movement before it was upon him again, ws raised high.


    He threw himself to the side, narrowly dodging a brutal swipe that tore through the air where his head had been moments before.


    "Shit!" Stark muttered, scrambling to his feet.


    The creature was fast—too fast.


    "Vine Surge!" Sora''s vinesshed out at the creature, striking it squarely in the chest, but it twisted its body unnaturally, avoiding the worst of the impact with [Flesh Warp].


    Her attacknded but did only minimal damage.


    -47427!


    The creature''s eyes glowed brighter as it unleashed a [Lunar Howl], the sound reverberating through the alley.


    [The monster has called for backup, you should hurry up.]


    "AURA SMASH MERGE! SPEAR OF JUDGMENT!"


    Stark sent his two merged attacks, hitting the monster in the chest as it howled.


    -283722! -573891!


    It received incredibly high damage!


    But before he could do anything else, the moonscorched beast used [Void Blink] again, appearing right behind Stark.


    "Ah..."


    But thankfully, Sora''s vines shot out again, entangling the monster''s limbs.


    With an emotionless expression, she used her enhanced control to m the monster repeatedly against the houses and ground.


    The Moonscorched Viger screeched in frustration, ripping through the vines with its ws, but the brief distraction gave Stark the moment he needed.


    "Domination Soul," he summoned his heart in front of him, and without waiting a single instant, began to m it against the monster.


    SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!


    The first blow put it to the ground, but when it tried to get up, Stark mmed again, forcing it to stay down.


    -184723! -193217! -183749!


    This kept going until, eventually, the monster stopped moving altogether.


    [You have in ''Moonscorched Viger lvl500'', gaining 1,150,000 experience points!]


    Stark staggered back, panting heavily, blood still dripping from his wound.


    He nced at Sora, who wiped sweat from her brow but gave him a nod of reassurance.


    They had won.


    But before Stark could catch his breath, a notification shed before his eyes.


    [You have been Moonscorched.]


    "Huh?" Stark blinked, confused.


    Another notification followed:


    [2% Moonscorched]


    "What... the hell is this?" Stark muttered, staring at the message.


    His mind raced, but nothing made sense.


    Moonscorched? How? The creature had been destroyed!


    Sora noticed the look on his face. "What''s wrong?"


    "I… I think something''s happening to me," Stark said, his voice tense.


    He raised his arm, and for a brief moment, he saw it—the faintest flicker of darkness crawling along his skin, like shadows whispering just beneath the surface.


    It was emerging from the wound he got from the creature.


    And suddenly...


    DING! DING! DING!


    [Global Trial Announcement!]


    "Hm?"


    "Oh?!"


    "An announcement, they''re always helpful!"


    The other participants, who were all killing monsters or resting in the houses, also got it.


    Every participant in the trial had a panel appear in front of them, Sora included.


    [Chosen has been infected by Moonscorch!]


    [Thus, the effects will be revealed.]


    "...!"


    A video appeared in front of all participants, showing the moment where the [Moonscorched Viger] emerged from the darkness and shed Stark''s arm.


    [The moment a moonscorched beast hits you, you are instantly infected.]


    [The infection spreads when you remain outside, since the rays of the crimson moons hit you directly.]


    [The only way to reduce the percentage number is to go back in your home and wait.]


    [Though, do note, someone that is moonscorched attracts beast way more than someone that isn''t.]


    [If your moonscorched percentage reaches 100, you be like one of the beasts, not only in the trial, but in real life too.]


    "So... like the ck sun in the very first rift I conquered?" Stark raised his eyebrows.


    But no answer, and all the panels closed.


    "Ah... fuck..."


    He had been the first to get infected, tough luck.


    [If you get hit again by another moonscorched beast, the power of the infection will grow.]


    Stark could finally see why this trial was of the death difficulty.


    And he needed to be extra careful.


    "Let''s go," Sora nodded.


    "Yeah."


    But right as they took their first steps to continue heading to [Termina], the city, Stark realized something.


    "Hey, Sora..." his expression darkened.


    "Hm?"


    "That monster we fought used a skill called [Lunar Howl]."


    "Yeah."


    "It said that backup wasing soon."


    "..."


    "And we''ve been reading the announcement for at least three minutes."


    "Oh."


    Which means...


    "SCRAKSKS-"


    "GRRRR-"


    That the monster they fought wasn''t the only one.


    Far down the street, more glowing eyes began to appear in the fog.


    All the monsters wereing from a single side.


    And it felt as though every moonscorched viger that was in Stark and Sora''s area had regrouped after the [Lunar Howl].


    Stark took the time to observe.


    "There''s 32 of them, we can''t win," he said, taking a few step backs, "I''m already injured."


    "Here," Sora approached Stark, and using one of her vines, she enrolled it around Stark''s arm to cover up the wound, "That should help."


    "Thanks."


    But as he saw the vine, Stark suddenly got an amazing idea.


    "Hey, Sora."


    "Hm?"


    "Can you restrain these monsters for even just a second?"


    "I can... try."


    EVERGREEN RESILIENCE!


    The ground beneath them turned green and grassy, and now, the monsters were in Sora''s domain.


    FWISH! FWISH! FWISH!


    Hundreds upon hundreds of vines came out of the ground and began to restrain the [Moonscorched Vigers].


    "NICE!" Stark smiled, his aura taking over, "Alright."


    He drew a circle in his palm, then taped it with his fist before pointing at the sky.


    "HEAVEN''S WRATH!"


    Thanks to his enhanced aura and mastery, the beam took only a single second to charge up, before erupting onto every single one of the beasts.


    -737282! -839304! -647265!


    Let''s just say, none of them survived.