The moment I opened my eyes again, I found myself back in the outside world. Or, more precisely within the dark chamber where I had first entered the trial.

Many status windows floated before my eyes and a short distance away, a glowing blue portal shimmered quietly, waiting for me.

Without another thought, I slumped against the cold stone floor as the portal wasn’t going anywhere because for now, I simply needed a moment to gather my thoughts.

The corruption was gone and so was the absurd strength the trial had temporarily given to me but even now, I couldn’t understand it.

Faith shouldn’t be capable of strengthening a mortal, not unless one had already stepped into true divinity.

So how was I able to do it in the trial?

More importantly, how had Askruak, who had merely been at the peak of Exalted Rank, managed to wield such power?

Was it the same ritual that had subtly amplified my emotions throughout the island? Or was it some unique ability of his that the trial had temporarily replicated within me to balance the scales?

The more I thought about it, the less any of it made sense.

Long before my master had ever taken me in as her disciple, she had crossed paths with that same bastard and been afflicted by his corruption.

By the time she found me, his corruption had already begun eating away at her. I could still remember watching her body slowly succumbing to that same vile corruption over the years, even as she fought desperately to resist it.

She made me promise never to seek revenge and only after her death did I finally find the owner of that disgusting mana.

Askruak.

But the world knew almost nothing about him except his name and now, I have witnessed the forgotten creator of the Celestial Singularity Art.

Chiki.

The man whose fate had been twisted by that same bastard long before he became a God.

I refused to believe that was a coincidence but no matter what secrets lay hidden in the past or present, my master would never have to pay their price again in this life.

Although preventing that bastard from afflicting her with his corruption was impossible since it had happened long before I was ever born, the trial had taught me one crucial thing.

His corruption wasn’t as absolute as I had once believed and maybe there might truly be a way to save her.

This time, I refused to believe her fate was inevitable.

A quiet sigh escaped my lips.

With my thoughts finally settled, I turned my attention to the status windows floating before me.

[You Have Completed the Trial: Path Beyond Strength]

[Your Physique Has Increased Slightly]

[You Have Broken Through To Tier II Awakened]

[Your Pitiful Strength Has Finally Reached a Slightly Less Pitiful State]

[Talent Evolution Is Successful]

[Talent: Insight → Talent: Eye of the Usurper]

[Detailed Status Window Available]

Without further waiting, I opened my status window.

"Status!"

Immediately in response a bright red colored status window appeared unlike the previous blue one.

════〔 STATUS 〕════

▸ Name: ⟦ Zenith Von Ruinbringer ⟧

▸ True Name: ⟦ The Smile at World’s End ⟧

▸ Role: ⟦ The Demon King ⟧

▸ Talent: ⟦ 1. Regression (Consumed), 2. Eye of Usurper ⟧

▸ Soul Core: ⟦ Tier II Awakened⟧

▸ AFFINITIES: ⟦ Vector (Reinforcer) — Manipulate the direction and magnitude of vectors within your own body.⟧

▸ CORE TRAIT: ⟦Chaos Mind — Your thoughts keep wandering in endless loops of chaotic thoughts, making it far too difficult to panic or get surprised. ⟧

▸ HIDDEN TRAIT: ⟦Fatal Attraction — You naturally attract unstable individuals and there is a high chance that those who fall in love with you gradually become even more deranged.⟧

▸ ATTRIBUTES: ⟦Physique (G), Mana Capacity (E+), Mind (S), Soul (-), Perception (D+), Will (SS)⟧

▸ PROFICIENCIES: ⟦ Swordsmanship (A), Mana Manipulation (B-), Hand-to-Hand Combat (S), Footwork (S-)⟧

▸ SKILLS:

⟐ Passive - None

⟐ Active - ⟦Celestial Breathing (Unique)⟧

▸ Refinement Technique: ⟦Celestial Singularity Art (Unique)⟧

▸ Soul Engravings: ⟦ 0 / 5 ⟧

▸ NOTE:「Even the world cannot comprehend how something so pitiful managed to survive for so long. Though still woefully inadequate, your physique has finally reached a standard the world can recognize.」

═══════════════════

Looking through my status window, I noticed quite a few new additions, probably due to the evolution of Insight revealing some hidden information I never knew I had.

One of them, however, caught my attention the most because it explained far more about my love life than I had ever wanted to know.

Somehow... I had ended up with eleven wives in my previous life and Lily was the seventh and the one I actually loved the most.

In hindsight, perhaps I had gone a little overboard even for a reincarnated person. Still, even by my standards, all of them had been unbelievably strange.

Nyxara tried to stab me through the heart whenever we had an argument. Lily constantly plotted to eliminate my other wives and went especially crazy after I married the other five after her.

And my first wife, that damned princess, made it her life’s mission to manipulate everyone around me against me whenever I failed to give her enough attention.

Those were only three of them and the others were somehow even worse. For the longest time, I had wondered if that was simply what love looked like.

But now...

As my eyes fell upon one particular hidden trait, everything finally made sense. The problem wasn’t that they had all gone crazy after falling in love with me, they had been crazy from the very beginning and somehow my trait seemed to have amplified it.

A quiet sigh escaped my lips at the revelation.

Pushing those troublesome thoughts aside, I skimmed through the rest of my status.

Quite a few new sections had appeared.

Hidden Traits, Soul Engravings and even my combat proficiencies had been reorganized into far greater detail.

Previously, skills such as hand-to-hand combat, footwork had all been grouped together under swordsmanship but now, each displayed its own separate proficiency.

Even previously hidden attributes, such as Perception and Will, had finally appeared.

Apart from those additions, there weren’t many major changes. Still, the Soul Engravings, True Name and the Role section left me slightly puzzled.

I had no idea what they represented but considering all three had appeared alongside the evolution of my Talent, I was fairly certain they were connected.

The answer would reveal itself soon enough when I see details of my new talent.

With that thought, I dismissed the unnecessary questions and immediately focused on the thing that mattered the most for now.

Eye of the Usurper.

Insight had already been absurd, so I wondered what exactly had it become?