Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely-Chapter 71: Third Sub-Layer, The Roaring Trials

[Roaring Golem (Mutated Boss)]

[Level: 40]

[Description: A golem formed from the corrupted cliffs themselves. Empowered endlessly by the "Roaring Bell," it is the most powerful creature of the third layer.]

[Hell-Mode Analysis: So this is the real boss of the layer. Not that... dragon from before.]

---

Just as [Hell-Mode Analysis] mentioned, the so-called [Roaring Dragon], the one Sam had killed during the [Third Expedition], wasn’t even the true boss of the layer.

It was just a pet of the [Roaring Titan].

Killing that dragon must’ve been more than a slight, it was personal.

It explained the Titan’s rage, the dreams, and the relentless feeling that Sam had been watched ever since.

And yet...

Even now, Sam could feel it. That weight. That difference in presence.

The Titan wasn’t just stronger. It was something else entirely.

But before he could confront that monster, there was the boss.

The mutated [Roaring Golem] stepped forward, its massive stone foot crushing the cracked plateau beneath them.

Its lone violet eye, glowing and unblinking, locked onto Sam like a cannon targeting its prey.

Sam narrowed his gaze and raised the [Primordial Sword], the blade buzzing faintly in his grip.

Crimson light slowly leaked from his eyes. His aura pulsed in a wave of pressure around him, cracking small stones at his feet.

He took a step forward, ready to begin the battle.

But then—

"Stop wasting my time."

The voice didn’t come from ahead. It came from everywhere.

And then—

ROOOOOAAAARRR!

The sound tore through the sky like a blast.

It was the first time since Sam had entered this version of the [Third Layer] that he’d heard it. The [Roaring Bell].

The sound shook the heavens and cast a darkness over everything.

The moon above, previously still, pulsed unnaturally in sync with the roar.

Sam’s eyes tracked upward.

’I guess the [Forsaken Lords] do control everything in their respective layers...’ Sam stared at it, ’Hm.’

And then...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground began trembling under his feet.

A low, thunderous rhythm. Something deep was stirring.

Then—BOOM!

A violent explosion burst from the center of the plateau, sending dust and shattered rock flying.

From the center of that destruction, a massive obsidian-black hand emerged from the cracked floor.

Veins of purple light pulsed along its surface, like corrupted energy running through it.

The [Roaring Golem] paused, almost as if confused by the intrusion.

But it never got a chance to react.

The hand surged upward, and crushed the Golem in one swift motion, reducing the mutated boss into rubble.

Ding!

[Global Announcement:]

[A new clear record has been set for the "Third Layer" by the Guild "Primordial": 36 minutes and 29 seconds.]

Just by rushing through the monsters and sprinting to the end, Sam had accidentally beaten the record he himself set two weeks ago during the [Third Expedition].

The world was probably losing its mind right now, trying to figure out what kind of guild "Primordial" was and how it kept setting unbeatable records in layers.

Sam didn’t care. He dismissed the panel with a flick of his hand and stared up at the black hand now rising fully from the earth.

The crushed remains of the [Roaring Golem] lay scattered like dust.

"So," came the voice again, deeper and heavier than before, "you finally grew a pair of balls, huh?"

It echoed from the giant crater left by the hand. The voice was a snarl wrapped in laughter, spiteful, mocking.

"I was waiting for you, Primordial."

Sam exhaled and slowly lowered his sword.

His expression was calm, but his eyes burned brighter now.

[Hell-Mode Analysis: He’s still trying to rage bait us...?]

The message made Sam smirk. It lightened the mood a little.

"You laugh," the voice growled from below, "but even you must know your chances of victory are nonexistent."

A gravelly chuckle followed.

"Come on. Don’t keep me waiting. I’m ready."

Sam took a step forward, voice steady and sharp.

"The first two said the same thing," he replied, "You’ll be just like them, after all, you’re the one stuck in the sub-layer, not me, I can leave whenever I want."

There was silence after that.

Then—

ROOOOOAAAARRR!

A roar so loud it made Sam’s bones shake.

Then, laughter. An ugly, twisted, monstrous laughter that echoed even louder than the roar itself.

"Primordial..." the voice hissed. "You think you understand what’s happening here? Who said we couldn’t leave?

Sam paused mid-step, eyes narrowing.

"...You?"

But the Titan was done talking.

"I grow tired of you. No more words. No more taunting. No more games."

The rage in the voice rose like a tide.

"You die here."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The air trembled. The sky cracked.

And then the hand, pulsing violently with purple energy, slammed into the ground in front of the pit.

A ripple of power spread out like a detonation. The cracks widened.

[Hell-Mode Analysis: ...He was never planning to let us leave. He was just stalling.]

"Shit—" Sam growled.

BOOM! BOOM!

The entire plateau gave way as the stone shattered.

Sam’s footing vanished as the ground beneath him crumbled into the abyss. There was no fighting it.

For the first time, Sam was being dragged into a sub-layer without his consent.

It made something crystal clear:

The deeper he went into the [Forsaken Realm], the more authority and control these [Forsaken Lords] had.

And the Titan’s words haunted him still.

"Who said we couldn’t leave?"

That... was something to think about later.

Because right now, he was falling into the dark.

Fwish! Ding!

[You have entered the Sub-Layer.]

[Third Sub-Layer: "The Roaring Trials"]

[You feel the gaze of the Titan constantly at your back, as though he’s toying with you.]

"Hmph." Sam clicked his tongue.

After nearly a full minute of falling through pitch black void, he landed on solid ground.

The force of the impact cracked the stone below, but he was unharmed.

He stood slowly, brushing off debris.

The atmosphere here was suffocating. Thick. Heavy. Charged with unnatural pressure.

Sam had no doubt in his mind, this sub-layer was unlike anything else he had seen so far.

He looked around.

The sky was a canvas of stars, but the colors were wrong, purple, blue, and gray.

The moon was high, and it too was purple, watching silently.

The grass beneath his boots was dead and gray, swaying in a wind that didn’t exist.

And in front of him, lit by the starlight, were three massive gates.

They stood tall and identical, each one carved from black stone and wreathed in eerie purple runes.

But the symbols above them were different.

The gates on the far left and far right were open.

The center one, however, was locked by two massive dark-purple chains, thick and thrumming with corruption.

Above it, carved into the stone arch, was a single glowing star with only four edges.

The same star Sam had seen before, in the pit when he was grabbed, and in his dreams.

[The gate leading to the "Finale Trial" is locked.]

[Complete the two other trials to shatter the chains and unlock the final gate.]

Sam groaned.

"So it’s gonna play like a game right till the very end, huh..."

But suddenly, a new panel appeared before him.

It was black, and in its center pulsed that same cursed star symbol.

Sam decided to call it the "The Titan’s Mark."

[Let us see how far you can go, Primordial.]

Sam narrowed his eyes at it, his crimson aura flaring as he swung his sword cleanly through the message.

The panel shattered.

"Don’t worry," he muttered, his voice quiet but resolute, "I’ll clear your stupid trials."

His grip tightened. His eyes flared.

"And then I’ll get to you."

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦