In the end, after contemplating for a moment, none of them decided to bring their champions back. The sixteen champions left would go on. Or at least, they would be given the choice as well in a way. As previously stated, they could always stop from going up by their own decision. They would have to wait for the end of the trial but wouldn't have to face anymore battles. They should have been safe doing so. They believed they were. But they weren't. Yet, they didn't know that.

For the champions who planned to select the option of stopping the ascension, only one thing awaited them. It was death. But they believed that what awaited them was survival. They would be choosing wholeheartedly to die unknowingly.

And there were a few who made such a choice.

One of Isla's champion, the only one left since one died, decided to stop here. He was in quite the bad shape and his decision could be understood. Stopping after reaching one's limits was something that was encouraged. He wouldn't be able to win anyways, not even one more fight. So, why bother getting himself killed? Knowing his limit, he planned to stop here. So, when a stairway made of light appeared in front of him along with an hourglass, he didn't move. He sat down and waited for the sand to fall.

There were two others who did the same. One was from the boar tribe. It wasn't by choice though but more because he didn't have the choice. He and his bro ended having some fun with a bitch previously. Everything had been fine. Then, however, some weird ghost appeared. It killed his bro savagely and teared out every one of his limbs. It had been waiting for it to die from blood loss, gloating over his body. However, as two stairways appeared, it climbed one and left. Since he would be unable to restore his limbs, he focused his spiritual energy on keeping himself alive. It wouldn't be too hard to wait for the trial to end and exit safely. He would need his clan to pay some price to restore his limbs but then so what? Heck, he was a hero for having joined this trial. Maybe even the leader would use his own energy to regrow his limbs? He had high hopes.

The third one who decided to give up was a human woman. She had exhausted all of her spiritual energy and already consumed a spiritual pill. She didn't have any juice left to compete so she decided to stop here. It was a wise choice. Considering what they knew.

Meanwhile, everyone else planned to move up.

Jin didn't hesitate as he saw the stairway. He climbed it halfway while positioning himself so that he had a visual of a hourglass and rested. He planned to wait until the timer ran out to maximize his time resting. Then, as he saw that time was turning tight, he ran through the remaining steps made of solid light. He could faintly sense it.

After reaching the top, he saw a door. He tried to push it but it was his hand that fell through. Then, he walked through it completely. When he opened his eyes once more, he was in a grand white hall. It was filled with gigantic statues depicting humans and sentient beasts with weapons. They were all posing differently and heroically. Those statues were at least dozens of meters tall. It was quite the imposing sight. The light in the hall was bright but Jin couldn't pinpoint where it came from. He knew that there was light and that was it. What surprised him greatly was the complete absence of shadows, even his own. The statues weren't casting any shadows at all. It was quite the peculiar sight. Everything was lighted equally.

He walked cautiously until he reached an opening. It was in the form of a circle with a few paintings on the ground. It depicted a fierce fight between humans, sentients and monsters of all kinds. It was circular and very wide. He wasn't bigger than the drawing of a human from it and there were thousands of those.

As he walked, he noticed someone coming from the opposite side. He could see that there had been a way through statues just like the one he came from. From there, something appeared. He easily noticed it but didn't know what it was. It looked humanoid but was around three meters tall. It seemed to be made of a flowing dark liquid in which jaws and eyes popped out from time to time. It looked disgusting.

As it approached, Jin could hear its many laughs. It felt creepy and Jin hurriedly took a stance. Regardless if it was the opponent, it would be an opponent. He hadn't noticed such a champion back in the grand hall and he certainly witnessed the appearances of all of them. So, this didn't make sense. Was it a creature summoned or tamed by one of the champions? Was a champion observing him from a hidden position? Whatever it was, it was not something that was his. Since it wasn't 'him', Jin deemed it his enemy.

He was proven right as the scenery changed once the creature had entered the circular painting area. A giant wall appeared to surround the circular area, encasing them in it. It seemed to be made of flowing transparent water but it wasn't. It looked like a cascade of water, it wasn't one. This definitely wasn't the water element. But Jin couldn't quite understand what it was. The creature touched it and it repelled him, making him laugh. Even it had been reflected away from it?

It didn't stop there as the statues began to move. They went down their pedestals as if alive and surrounded the circle the two were trapped in. Then, those statues began to chat amongst themselves and even bet on the fight. Jin had no idea what was going on but it was obvious what he needed to do.

He had to kill the weird monster.

He pointed the spear towards it as spiritual energy began to erupt from his core.