Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent-Chapter 481: The First Structure, The Creator Altar

[You have discovered one of the five structures in the "Creators' Domain", The Creator Altar.]

[Because of that, more rules will now be explained to you regarding this realm.]

Alex and Kaelios stood still, the two exchanging a quick look as they faced the massive altar rising in front of them.

The wind was oddly still, and the clouds overhead shifted unnaturally as though watching.

Then, without warning, glowing lines of text formed in the air, neither divine nor demonic, just absolute in presence, like the voice of the world itself declaring a truth.

[In the "Creators' Domain" there are five main structures. Each holds a challenge that may grant a function, not a weapon, not a skill, but a tool. Something that may offer an edge. A small one. Yet one that may save your life.]

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly.

'A fair trial, yet it gives an advantage? Contradictory phrasing, but… whatever. As long as we survive.'

He didn't have time to argue logic with the system.

[This realm is divided into 10 regions. You are currently located in the "Plains". The other selected pairs have been scattered among the other nine.]

[Note: Dying during a trial is permanent. There are no do-overs.]

"Five structures. Ten regions," Alex muttered aloud, his voice calm. "Seems simple enough."

Kaelios nodded, his sharp golden gaze still locked on the altar. "Good to know. Let's see what we can pull from this."

They both understood what this place was, dangerous, unknown, and unforgiving.

Getting caught off guard could be the end of them, even with their ability to resurrect through [Destiny Points].

It wasn't about just dying once, revealing their cards too soon could force them into a loop of death and revival they might never escape.

Especially when they didn't know what the others were capable of either.

Still, the opportunity in front of them couldn't be ignored.

Any function granted here, even something seemingly small, could turn the tide later.

The other pairs were likely aiming for these structures too.

That made time the most valuable resource of all.

"Let's move," Kaelios said with a grin, already taking a step forward toward the distant altar. "Better to claim it now before someone else stumbles into us."

But Alex didn't follow.

"Hold on," he said, his tone shifting to something far more cautious, something primal.

Kaelios blinked and turned. "What now?"

Alex's eyes darkened.

He could feel it, a crawling unease in his chest, like something was wrong, off, just beneath the surface.

He trusted his instincts, and they told him that walking forward unprepared would be a mistake.

So, he raised his hand and activated his most devastating tool.

[Void Blaster]

As he snapped his fingers, a deep hum filled the air.

Darkness poured out from beneath him like an inverted fire, pooling in the air before warping into form.

A large skeletal construct materialized slowly, as though crawling into existence from some unseen abyss.

Kaelios took a cautious step back, watching as it finished forming.

It was monstrous.

Floating in the air, the [Void Blaster] looked like a demonic cannon, jagged and warped, its skeletal frame twisted with dark metal and shadows.

Its face was shaped like a skull warped in agony, eyes glowing with dull blue light and its mouth jagged like a gaping maw, curved open unnaturally.

A vertical line ran from forehead to chin, separating the two halves of its warped visage.

"Charge it," Alex commanded.

The blaster's core lit up, glowing with slow, building intensity as it absorbed power.

The faint whine of growing energy filled the air like a shrill, invisible pressure wave.

Kaelios raised a brow.

"Starting early? Don't we want to wait and see what we're dealing with first?"

Alex grinned, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Instead, his expression was unnerving, cold, calculated, and dangerously still.

"I just want to be ready… to kill."

Kaelios didn't reply.

He simply nodded and stood back.

Thirty seconds passed.

The blue light inside the [Void Blaster] began to pulse violently.

Small sparks of dark-blue lightning arced around its body, signaling it had reached a fully charged state.

"That's enough," Alex said. "More than that, and I'd risk revealing the next phases. Let's not give away everything."

Kaelios smirked.

"Right. We're supposed to protect our cards, not throw them all on the table."

With their ace now quietly floating behind them, fully charged and awaiting a single command, they stepped toward the altar.

The structure loomed in the center of the open space, ancient yet untouched by time.

Held up by seven colossal columns of blackstone, the altar stood within a wide circular foundation of smooth obsidian tiles.

Above it, a massive metallic ring spun endlessly in the air, floating without support, humming with a low vibration that shook the air ever so slightly.

The ring was covered in symbols they didn't understand, and it rotated with a slow, deliberate grace, as if keeping time for the realm itself.

In the center of the altar, on a pedestal, glowed a soft orange light.

No words were needed, they both understood that this was the function they'd come to claim.

And then...

Ding!

[You have triggered the "Altar Trial". You have made a terrible mistake.]

The ground trembled.

Not just beneath them, but across the entire Plains region.

Stone cracked and split.

The air rumbled.

Dozens, hundreds of chunks of rock and debris from all corners of the landscape lifted into the sky, pulled by an unseen force toward the altar.

The glowing light from the pedestal flickered, then vanished.

It was being absorbed.

The floating stones collided midair and fused together.

Massive limbs began to take form.

A spine. A torso. And then, a towering head.

The creature that formed was monstrous.

Over 300 meters tall, it was a golem of impossible scale, made from the very terrain of the region itself.

Its body was uneven but terrifyingly solid, arms the size of fortresses, fists capable of reducing entire structures to rubble.

And in its chest, embedded deep, was a single orb of blinding orange light, the reward they had come for.

Ding!

[As the Creators, we designed this being to challenge even gods.]

[Do not underestimate it. This trial monster can locate you no matter where you run. We guarantee a high chance of death.]

Alex looked up at the monstrosity before him.

Its face was lifeless, just smooth rock where eyes should have been, but its gaze was unmistakably aimed at them.

The air grew heavy under its aura.

Kaelios stared, lips slightly parted in disbelief.

"That thing absorbed the function," Alex growled. "We'll have to kill it to get it back."

Kaelios frowned.

"The system says it's extremely powerful… we'll need to be smart."

But Alex didn't answer.

No. Not acceptable.

A low, distorted sound escaped his lips, a growl unlike anything Kaelios had heard from him before.

"I'm going to destroy that thing."

Kaelios turned, startled.

"What?"

Alex raised his hand slowly.

His pupils were glowing red, his expression unreadable.

The [Creators' Golem] lifted its foot, aiming to crush them where they stood.

Too slow.

"Blaster," Alex whispered. "Kill it."

The [Void Blaster] responded instantly.

Its maw cracked open wider, the charged blue core surging with power, then, a single concentrated beam of destructive energy was unleashed.

FwwwwwBOOM!

The beam roared across the space like a divine lance, faster than thought, and struck the golem directly in its core.

A single second passed.

A crack formed across the orb.

Then another. Then, with a soundless burst, the core shattered.

The golem froze. Its raised foot halted midair, stone grinding against stone.

Then, it began to fall apart.

Piece by piece, its enormous frame crumbled into ash and dust, dissolving like sand in the wind.

Kaelios stared at Alex.

"What... the hell was that?"

Alex didn't answer immediately.

He was still staring at where the golem had stood, his extended arm slowly lowering.

The crimson light in his eyes dimmed.

The [Void Blaster] let out a final hiss, then dissipated into dark mist, its cooldown beginning.

"Just wanted to kill it before anyone noticed," Alex muttered at last, voice cold but steady.

Kaelios nodded, though his mind was racing.

The [Creators] said the golem would be near impossible to beat.

Yet Alex had erased it in an instant.

Still, he wasn't about to complain.

As the dust faded, the small orange light, the reward, reappeared on the pedestal.

Alex approached it without hesitation and placed his hand on it.

Ding!

[Congratulations. You have unlocked the "GPS" function.]

Alex smirked.

"Bingo."