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> **[TRIAL THREE: THE ABYSSAL CHASM - 97.3% FATALITY RATE FOR MARKED TARGETS]**
The War God's whisper coiled in his mind: *"Trust no one. Not even them."*
Cold wind screamed through the chasm as Kael, Darius, and Lira stood on the first floating island. Below them, absolute darkness yawned. Above, the beacon pulsed atop a needle-like spire.
**Proctor Thorne's voice boomed:**
*"Reach the beacon. But know this—the chasm hungers for the unworthy."*
Lira eyed the crumbling rock bridges. **"Pressure traps. Seven o'clock, ten o'clock."**
Kael's System overlaid hazard zones in bronze:
> **[HAZARD: GRAVITY FLUX]**
> **• RANDOM 300% WEIGHT SURGES**
> **[TRAP: COLLAPSE BRIDGES]**
> **• MARKED IN RED ON USER MAP**
Darius tested a bridge—it held. **"Move fast, stay light—"**
A gravity wave *slammed* down. Darius' knee buckled. Stone skin cracked.
**"LEFT!"** Kael yanked him aside as the bridge disintegrated.
---
Halfway across, the System flared crimson:
> **[WARNING: PROCTOR INTERVENTION]**
> **• BRIDGE INTEGRITY OVERRIDE: 100% → 3%**
The platform under Lira *shattered*. She fell—
Kael dove, grabbing her wrist. Her daggers scraped rock as she dangled over the void.
**"Null-field below!"** she gasped. **"Drops sanity!"**
> **[VOID TOUCHED: -1 SAN/MIN]**
> **KAEL'S SANITY: 60 → 59/100**
Darius hauled them up, snarling at the observation orb overhead. **"Cheating bastards!"**
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They reached the spire. The beacon blazed atop a slender pinnacle.
Lira scaled it, dagger-hands finding cracks. **"Almost— ARGH!"**
A **null-collar** snapped around her throat. Her shadows *died*.
Thorne's hologram materialized. **"Kael Vance. Surrender your System… or she dies."**
Darius charged—but null-chains erupted from the spire, pinning him.
**"Choose, Zero."** Thorne's smile was ice. **"Your power… or their lives?"**
Kael's fists clenched. The War God's voice roared:
***"THEY DARE CHAIN WHAT I FORGED? UNLEASH ME!"***
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Kael's eyes burned crimson. He didn't touch Thorne—he touched the *spire*.
> **[AFFINITY IGNITION: WAR/DESTRUCTION]**
> **• TIER 0 ABILITY: [ANNIHILATE]**
> **• TARGET: NULL-COLLAR (MASS: 0.5kg)**
**"ANNIHILATE!"**
The collar *disintegrated*. Lira gasped free.
Thorne recoiled. **"Impossible! Null-steel can't be—"**
Kael turned on the chains binding Darius. **"ANNIHILATE!"**
The chains vaporized.
Sanity bled from Kael like lifeblood:
> **SANITY: 59 → 39/100**
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#### **The Price of Wrath**
Thorne's hologram flickered. **"Kill them all!"**
Three **Null-Golems** rose from the chasm.
Darius roared, stone fists meeting steel. Lira blurred, daggers screeching on armor.
Kael staggered—[Annihilate]'s cost spiking:
> **[SANITY: 39 → 29/100]**
> **[WARNING: PSYCHOSIS AT 25 SAN]**
The lead golem backhanded Darius over the edge.
**"NO!"** Kael lunged, grabbing his arm—but the golem's fist drove toward Lira's skull.
***"YOUR RAGE IS A WEAPON. AIM IT."*** — The War God's voice cut through the haze.
Kael *released* Darius' arm—trusting Lira's shadows to catch him—and plunged his hand into the golem's chest.
**"ANNIHILATE: CORE!"**
The golem exploded in black dust.
---
Silence fell. The beacon shone unobstructed.
Kael collapsed, sanity at **25/100**. Shadows whispered of blood and fallen gods.
Lira hauled him up, her voice fierce. **"Look."**
The observation orbs floated close, projecting Thorne's stunned face—and behind him, **Academy Elders** with gleaming eyes.
**"War Affinity…"** breathed an Elder. **"S-Rank Confirmed."**
Thorne straightened, voice formal but shaken:
*"Trial passed. Welcome… Ascendant Vance."*
---
In the infirmary, Thorne entered alone.
**"Your power is beyond rare. It's *divine*."** He placed a black crystal in Kael's palm. **"Channel it."**
Kael focused. Crimson light vaporized the crystal.
> **[AFFINITY SYNCHRONIZATION: 45%]**
> **• [ANNIHILATE] UPGRADED: MASS LIMIT 1kg**
> **• SANITY COST: -10 (PER USE)**
Darius whistled. **"Can you disintegrate my homework?"**
Lira watched Thorne. **"Why help him now?"**
**"Because the Void comes,"** Thorne said quietly. **"And we need a weapon even gods fear."**
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