I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 101: Third Trial

Vale felt himself drifting through an endless void of darkness.

He had no physical form. Only his soul lingered, suspended in the black abyss. The darkness wasn’t just around him—it was alive, constantly shifting, expanding and folding in on itself like a breathing entity. Time felt like it had lost all meaning here. This descent felt longer, far longer than any he’d experienced before.

Then, a chill crept in.

A shiver raced down what remained of his spine, followed by an overwhelming wave of cold that pierced deeper than flesh. It felt ancient, otherworldly.

And then, faintly, his senses began to stir.

A tingling sensation spread across the remnants of his essence. Sounds—distant and muffled—echoed at the edge of his awareness. The taste of iron. The scent of earth. The weight of gravity.

With a sharp gasp, Vale’s eyes snapped open.

Cool earth pressed against his back, damp and fragrant with the scent of moss and crushed grass. He sat up slowly, his heart pounding, his breath catching in his throat as his gaze swept across the unfamiliar world around him.

He was in a vast, open field painted with wildflowers—delicate blues and purples that danced with the breeze. The grass brushed against his fingertips like ghostly fingers, and though the wind was gentle, there was something unsettling in the air. An eerie stillness. As if the world held its breath.

Ahead, the field sloped down to a vast, glimmering lake. Its waters were unnaturally still, like a sheet of silver glass reflecting a sky bruised with mist. Across the lake, trees rose in silent defiance—tall evergreens, interspersed with golden-leaved sentinels that rustled with a faint, dry whisper.

To the left, the horizon was dominated by a crumbling structure — an ancient aqueduct, impossibly large, its pale stone arches slicing through the sky like the spine of a fallen titan. Vines clung to its surface, and pieces had long since collapsed, leaving jagged gaps like broken teeth. Beyond it, forested cliffs climbed toward the clouds, wreathed in distant fog and streaked with long-forgotten trails.

Everything was both beautiful and wrong. Too quiet. Too still. It felt too quiet and too still. The scenery was too majestic compared to the Demon Realm, which Vale had gotten used to.

The only sounds were the faint lapping of water, the rustle of distant leaves, and the faint hum of something unseen—something watching. The sky itself was strange. Pale blue, but with veins of gold light breaking through the clouds above, as if something was bleeding radiance onto a forsaken land.

Vale rose to his feet, legs unsteady, his instincts already sharply awake.

He frowned slightly at the scenery.

Nothing seemed familiar, even the sky itself felt different from the last time he was here.

Only one thing remained the same.

His companions, once again, were nowhere in sight.

The memory of his defeat kept flashing across his mind. Something about it ticked him off. Whether it was the loss despite the number advantage, the vast difference in strength or simply the menacing smirk he saw on that woman’s face, he wasn’t sure.

He let out a deep sigh as he summoned his weapon, the familiar weight offering a sliver of reassurance. In a place like this, where danger could strike without warning, it was best to stay prepared—there was no room for hesitation.

But before taking another step, there was something else he needed to try.

Closing his eyes briefly, he summoned his Relic—the Four-Eyed Raven—hoping it might lead him to his scattered allies. At once, his vision expanded, soaring across the vast and alien landscape. Rolling hills and dense forests stretched out beneath him, along with massive structures unlike anything he’d seen before. Some seemed ancient, others almost... alive.

His gaze pierced through the layers of the land, detecting mana signatures pulsing faintly in the distance. But none belonged to humans. These auras were twisted and violent, far more sinister than what a human presence would be. The entire zone teemed with monsters, and the longer he looked, the more it felt like the land itself was rejecting him.

After several minutes of intense scanning, he dismissed the relic with a frustrated exhale. His companions were nowhere in sight. They had to be somewhere far or out of sight. Either way, he would not find them anytime soon.

He moved forward cautiously, each step echoing softly on the cracked earth. But he only managed a few strides before halting abruptly.

"The quest!"

The realisation struck him like a blow to the chest. Last time, he had forgotten to check the quest details upon entering the Second Trial. Only after encountering the Tower Keeper did he remember it.

Not this time.

He summoned his status window, the translucent panel flickering to life before his eyes. His focus sharpened as he scanned the familiar structure, his gaze locking onto the glowing line labelled Quest.

***

Quest: [ Survivor’s Sacrifice ]

Survivor’s Sacrifice Quest Description: [ Slay all those you care about ]

Quest Counter: [ 0/3 ]

Quest Reward: [ Survivor’s Reward ]

***

Vale froze as his eyes locked onto the line of text hovering before him. He read it once. Then again. And again. Each time, he blinked hard, as if the act alone might cause the words to shift, to correct themselves—but they didn’t. The message remained, unmoving and absolute.

His breath caught in his throat.

A dark expression spread across his face as disbelief took root. Doubt clawed at his thoughts, followed swiftly by a desperate urge to reject what he was seeing. He tried to reason with it, to twist the meaning in his mind, hoping that some hidden context would reveal itself.

But the words didn’t change.

Worse still, there was a counter next to the objective—an exact number of targets—confirming beyond all doubt that this was no misinterpretation. No trick of language. No room for second guesses.

This was real.

His free hand rose to his head, fingers dragging through his hair as his thoughts spiraled. His mind raced, searching frantically for loopholes, hidden clauses, any possibility that might allow him to bypass this monstrous task. But no matter how he framed it, no matter how desperately he tried to find a way out, the objective remained cold and unyielding.

Despair twisted into fury. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He clenched his jaw and cursed silently—at the system, at the quest, and at whoever had written this nightmare into his path.

He stood frozen, the weight of the revelation crashing down on him, shaking the foundations of everything he thought he stood for. His world tilted, his purpose wavered, and for a brief moment, he didn’t know who he was anymore.

Then, a ripple disturbed the still water in front of him.

Something moved.

The sound was small, but sharp—a disturbance loud enough to shatter his spiralling thoughts. Instinct kicked in, and his focus snapped forward, eyes narrowing as he raised his weapon higher.