"Oni Hill. The home of Razznik Y'Terlow..." A lump formed in Alia's throat as she gazed at the towering mountain range. Terrifying pressure from the silent monolith. She had never felt this intimidated in her entire life. Not even when faced with possible death in the defeat eleven years past. The daeben queen looked at her Uncle, who wore a relaxed smile. It was at times like these, that she truly understood how much of a monster this man was. "How... How do we get in?"

Cathek pointed at the base of the mountain. "The Gates of Purgatory."

"...Gates of Purgatory?"

"You shall see when we get closer."

Just as Cathek said, sets of gigantic gates hewn into the mountainside came into sight as they neared the mountain's base. The gates were spaced around a kilometer apart from each other, and went around the mountainside. The first thing that popped out were the 100 meter skeleton statues standing by each gate. Terrifying auras oozed off these sculptures, threatening to crush all who neared them.

Gruuu!

One of the skeleton sculptures turned its head to stare at them once they were within 100m of a gate. Gruuuu! A bone-crushing pressure suddenly exploded over Alia and her army. The robed figures and Cathek were unfazed by the pressure. Alia, however, sweated as she resisted under the pressure. Her army fared much worse.

Several soldiers crumbled to the ground in a heap of sweat, some bleeding from their noses and ears. Evidently, even these expertly trained warriors were unable to bear the pressure from the statues.

Cathek smiled as he looked at the statues. "Razznik was a proud man. Towards the end of his life, countless fools tried to claim his head for fame, glory or wealth. While, he indeed welcomed battles, Razznik soon grew weary of the everyday riff-raff that came to challenge him. So, he devised an ingenious sorting method... A series of tests, to weed out the weak from the strong, and thus ensure only the best of the best got to challenge him."

Alia's blood chilled. She glanced at the red-eyed statue with trepidation. "This is just a test?"

"This?" Cathek chuckled and shook his head. "This is not a test. This is just a preliminary screening to determine those worthy of his test." Cathek then looked at the severely injured soldiers. "Order your men to retreat to 200 meters. This is their limit."

Alia nodded, and then ordered her soldiers to step back and heal their injuries. The loss of her soldiers did not bother her. This had been the plan to begin with. The soldiers would hold the line, and prevent anyone from approaching the mountain.

Cathek nodded and then tapped Gunder, who approached the gate with steady steps. "There are eight levels in Oni Hill, each corresponding to a ring of Chaos. Usually, we would have to battle fiercely to reach the summit. Fortunately, Razznik ordered easy passage for a few, select individuals." When Gunder reached the gate, Cathek ordered the robed figures to climb aboard the dragon's back. He then looked at the mountain, and said, "Climb."

Vwoosh!

With a heavy flap, Gunder bypassed the gate and took to the air, slowly flying up the mountainside.

Alia frowned. "Will the enemy not attempt a similar method?"

In reply, Cathek stretched out his hand. A mandala appeared in the air, from which cold ice poured out. Moments later, an ice sculpture that looked identical to Cathek appeared before them. "Let me show you what will happen, if there is such a fool." The ice sculpture jumped off Gunder's back.

BOOOM!

The ice clone barely crossed a meter before it suddenly exploded into fine dust. Even among the robed figures, only a few managed to catch what happened. A giant ki bolt shot out of the mountain and then crashed into the ice clone. It was so fast, 99% of the continent's population would have missed it.

Cathek chuckled at Alia's horrified expression. "To be fair, you will certainly gain Razznik's acknowledgment if you can make it up this mountain unscathed."

Alia gave Cathek a scathing glare. "That's physically impossible!"

"You never know, Your Majesty," Cathek countered. "Humes are known for constantly achieveing the seemingly impossible." Vwoosh!

Gunder broke into the ash cloud as Cathek spoke. The dragon's passengers shielded their nose and eyes from the choking soot until, woosh, Gunder burst out from the clouds.

"Oh." A single word escaped Alia's lips. Her eyes widened in awe and amazement as she gazed upon the stunning view beyond the clouds. Seated atop the mountain was the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. Blooming flowers danced in the light breeze, accentuating a crystal-like pond, from which the occassional fish jumped. Her gaze travelled along a crystal garden path to a glass throne that glistened in the sunlight.

Cathek's eyes grew hazy as he admired the garden. "A thousand years. One thousand years, and this place remains untouched by the hands of time." The kafu smiled as he ordered Gunder to set down on a patch of grass behind the throne. "It is even more impressive when you realize that this was previously the mouth of a volcano."

Gunder dropped to the ground with a soft thud, following which, the robed figures, Cathek, and Alia alighted. Alia and the robed figures trembled in shock the moment their feet touched the ground. A dense combination fo mana and ki shot up from the earth, into their veins and blood.

Alia, sensing the incredible opportunity, shut her eyes and then sunk into a deep meditation. She sent her subconscious to explore her veins. She found that the blood vessels, wherever the energy passed was transformed, and then strengthened.

"This is..." Alia gasped. She understood instantly the importance of this opportunity. She immediately cast all thoughts aside, and then sunk into deep concentration. She carefully guided the energy to every inch of her body, making sure not to leave a single place untouched.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of popping bones rang out as Alia broke through several levels. The daeben queen eventually opened her eyes minutes later, bright eyes shining as she felt her increased power. She looked at Cathek, shock in her eyes as she excitedly exclaimed, "I broke through! I'm level 202!"

Cathek grinned as he reached out and fondly patted Alia's head. "Congratulations on finally becoming a Transcendent."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty." The hooded figures surrounded Alia, and then bowed. "We are pleased to welcome you among our ranks." These phrase finally revealed their identities! These ten were the Chaos Order's Cardinals! One half of the strongest powers on the continent.

The cardinals never left the holy land. Yet, all ten were present at this time. This, more than anything, proved how important this operation was to the Order.

"Heh." Alia issued a proud smirk. Finally! Finally, she had broken through. She had been stuck at level 199 for years. No amount of training could let her break through. Yet, she had broken through just like this? Her lips curled in a sinister grin as she thought of the coming battle. "Heh. I am shaking with anticipation."

Briefly, the image of a daeben charging into a colossal army flashed in the daeben queen's mind. Alia gazed out to the sea of clouds, a wistful smile on her face as she whispered, "I wonder... Will you be there?"

Abandoned Island off the Serian South Coast.

2:53 p.m. 25th Banem 1092.

29 Days to World's End.

'Achoo!'

"Ye alright, kid?" Fang Ling, looked at the sniffing daeben with a puzzled expression. "Didn't think Summoned could catch colds." The midi had his arms crossed as he observed Kashi, who was seated on the beach.

"Barring extreme conditions, or curses, yeah, we are immune." Kashi groaned as he gazed at the crumpled clump of dirt in his hand. "Damn it. That messed up my concentration. I have to restart from scratch."

Fang Ling attentively watched Kashi pick up a fresh clump of dirt. The daeben rolled the dirtball until it was about ten centimeters wide, and then clasped it within his palms. On the surface, nothing appeared to be happening beyond this moment. But, Fang Ling could tell from Kashi's tensed, furrowed brows, and brewing sweat that the daeben was deep in concentration. Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, Fang Ling asked, "Is there a point to this?"

Luckily, although Kashi's task required immence concentration, it was not to the point he could not answer easy questions. "It's the fastest way to improve my Earth control skill."

"Earth control, is it?" Fang Ling thought back to the last few spars since Kashi temporarily retired the bow. The midi convincingly won each fight, but they discovered something strange during these bouts. Kashi, even without the bow, was not as offensive as they both assumed he would be.

Even without his bow, Kashi approached battle carefully. Rather than blitz the opponent with overpowering force and ferocity, the daeben seemed to be the type who preferred to hoodwink, trap, or decieve the enemy, and then finish them off with swift, critical strikes.

Kashi's fighting personality was made even clearer when he began using Earth Control. Rather than attempting to strike Fang Ling, the daeben utilized the earthen structures to limit Fang Ling's range of movement. The intent was obvious. If Fang Ling could not bounce around freely, then Kashi could take him out with one well-placed punch.

Unfortunately, Kashi's earth control was still very poor. The constructs he could make were very limited in design and complexity. Furthermore, there was often a delay between intent, and the structure's movement. Due to these setbacks, Fang Ling could still easily crush Kashi before the daeben really got into gear.

"Yeah, if yer got that mastered, ye'll really be a frightening force." Fang Ling had to agree that, for now, this was possibly Kashi's greatest room for growth.

Kashi agreed with Fang Ling's assessment. At the moment, and especially because of time constraints, Nature Control, and hand-to-hand combat were the only skills with room for quick improvement.

After facing Razznik, and then Fang Ling, Kashi finally began to see where he had gone wrong. The problem was that he was too OP! Too Overpowered! As a result, he rarely ever got a chance to fight people on his level. He was always either battling monsters much stronger than he was, or scrubs much weaker than him.

With monsters, Kashi often resorted to [Gilgamesh] and [Asura]. Both skills dealt massive damage, and covered wide areas, perfect for battling these giant monstrosities with ginormous HP. Who knew how long it would take with normal fighting styles?

At the other end of the spectrum, Kashi could destroy most scrubs with a sneeze. Okay, slight exaggeration, but the point stood. Either way, neither kinds of battle required Kashi to really explore who he really was as a figher. This led to his current lopsided build, where he could not pin down a set style, and thus was quickly overwhelmed by those at similar strength.

As such, Kashi had two distinct goals for the next twenty-something days. The first, was to hone his battle instincts with Fang Ling. The second, was to lay the foundation for building his own battle style. Mastering the elements was merely the first stone to be laid in this process.

"It's done." Kashi opened his hand, revealing a mud cuboid. The daeben revealed a wry smile. "I wanted a cube."

"That's better than last time." Fang Ling thought about Kashi's previous horrible constructs.

Kashi chuckled. "I suppose." He then took out Rosario's brush, and quickly painted the cuboid black and white.

"Oh? Yer painting them now?"

Kashi shrugged. "Figured I might as well raise my painting skill while I'm at it."

Fang Ling grinned. "Yer one greedy bastard, ye know that?"

"I know." Kashi placed the block on the ground, put Rosario's brush away, and then rose to his feet. He brushed the dust off his backside, and then fixed Fang Ling with a challenging glare. "Down for another round?"

"...Yer know it, kid!"

A/N: Thank you, Cameron, for joining the Patreon family in supporting this epic journey!