“Aurelio!” the enraged scream arrived like a gale despite the distance, shaking the remnants of grass among the corpses. At that moment everyone held their breath, awaiting the originator of that furious roar. Yet even after a few seconds, nothing arrived from beyond the horizon.

“Are you alright?” Irwyn turned towards Elizabeth who was slightly pale. Although they were never directly under attack they were both casting basically non-stop, such a thing was extremely exhausting both to the body and the mind. Irwyn was still fine thanks to his immense mana reserves, and general mental fortitude, but Elizabeth was nowhere near Irwyn’s level when it came to that.

“I will be fine…” she mumbled, but contrary to her statement she suddenly stumbled and fell down. With a quick dash Irwyn barely managed to catch her falling body into his embrace.

“Sorry,” she apologised, her blank expression clearly revealing that she was in a haze, “Don’t worry about it. Just rest,” under Irwyn’s encouragement she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. Their trial was abnormally difficult after all. The weakest second tier trials would reach the challenge rating of 150, however, theirs had escalated all the way to 16,000. If he had allowed the trial type to be chosen randomly it was not impossible for even Irwyn to suffer if it turned out to be something on the nastier side. Of course, he chose the Domain of endless conflict for a reason: It was the safest kind of trial. It did not rely on one’s ability to withstand hunger in an underground cavern; ambushes in a dark overgrown forest; or to endure being chased for days by relentless pursuers. The Domain of endless conflict requested only one thing from the tried: The ability to destroy. To obliterate as many foes as possible as quickly as possible. And Irwyn knew that he was especially good at doing that.

“You two!” suddenly the commander’s voice sounded right behind Irwyn. Still holding Elizabeth he calmly turned around, and there stood a giant of a man, towering at what must have been at least 4 metres. He was wearing heavy looking armour of golden hue decorated with numerous spikes and engravings, making the armour look like something meant for a parade rather than war. His face was completely hidden behind a full helmet. Among the various decorations, Irwyn spotted a clear gilded cage engraved into the chestplate, something he clearly recognised as the sigil of Aurelio’s generals. Although there were many legions within the domain Irwyn went through it far too many times to not be familiar with the individual armies to at least some extent.

“Yes?” Irwyn gave him a faint response.

“Magnificent work!” the man praised “You are both immediately promoted to tribunes!” he announced overjoyed, apparently not at all surprised about what two twelve-year-old children were doing in his division. Irwyn did not bother to reply.

“Good then!” the general laughed at Irwyn’s silence as though he was given a satisfactory answer, “All things considered, I believe it is only fair that I bring you to the strategic meeting with our leader.”

Irwyn did not bother responding, and instead just started to walk, still carrying Elizabeth. Considering how small he was they struck a hilarious pose. The commander did not seem to take any offence nor expect an answer, instead, he just led the way without any qualms. The dense crowd of soldiers parted like water where the general trod. That sentence is not figurative as the soldiers seemed to actually be pushed out of the way without even noticing the general and didn’t seem to notice their own movement at all as they continued whatever they were doing beforehand. Irwyn was not alerted by such abnormal behaviour as he had seen it many times before. The Aspect of Logos had been mighty at his peak, however, he was not Ignis. There was a limit to how much his artifacts could achieve.

They had walked for at least a couple of minutes, mostly in relative silence. The general tried to start a conversation multiple times, however, when Irwyn failed to deliver a response he seemed to temporarily dismiss the very possibility of speech, only to try once again after a minute or so. In that manner they arrived in front of a gilded tent. Or perhaps golden would be a better term as the gargantuan construct was definitely forged entirely out of the shining metal. Without any hesitation the giant in golden amour lead Irwyn inside. Although the general’s stature was enormous, he reached only half-way through the entrance, so the height of Irwyn, and Elizabeth carried in his arms, seemed completely irrelevant in comparison.

Inside the tent did not lose out to the outside when it came to golden luster. Even the floor itself was gilded, and there also stood a glistering throne surrounded by 6 men similar to the general in appearance. In fact, they looked completely identical, since their facial expressions were hidden beneath a helmet. And on top of that throne sat a figure which overshadowed everyone, although he was sitting right now he must had been at least 7 metres tall, if not more. He also wore a golden armour, however, his was different than the generals’, somehow it was even more decorated, and lacked the cage symbol on the chestplate. Instead the giant did not wear a helmet, but had a golden cage placed around his head. The design of the cage was clearly showing that it was not possible to remove it.

“Aurelio,” Irwyn softly smiled at the giant. The generals did not have a reaction to this clearly arrogant act. Meanwhile, the giant looked down on Irwyn and smiled.

“I see,” he nodded as he spoke to himself “I was wondering how the soldiers held the line. It has been a decade since I last had the pleasure of accommodating someone on their trial. Moreover there seems to be 2 of you. Let’s wait for her to wake up.”

“No,” Irwyn shook his head “there are things she is still too young to be told. It would just confuse her. Moreover, this could be considered a reunion, Gilded Overlord Aurelio.”

“I cast that name away when I was overthrown and killed,” the giant frowned “that should have happened more than just a few thousand years ago on the prime material plane. How do you know that name.”

“Don’t you remember?” Irwyn chuckled, “Back then I was the one who had killed you.”

Surprise surfaced on Aurelio’s face, and he looked at Irwyn much more closely. In fact, Irwyn felt a faint force attempting to invade his body, but he only let small ripples of his soul collide with that invasion. Unleashing his soul in order to repel it would result in serious injuries, and achieve minimal results. A moment later that faint power was withdrawn and a wide grin appeared on the giant's face. Aurelio appeared to be utterly ecstatic.

“I see!” he exclaimed with that ear-to-ear smile, “No wonder 2 young children had such an impact on the battle! I sincerely welcome you to my humble army, oh, great one,” those words possessed no hatred. Only honest joy and even gratitude,” I am sorry that I do not have a suitable throne for you.”

“I haven’t seen you for countless years,” Irwyn ignored that last sentence “you seem to be doing well, your generals doubled since we had last met.”

“Ancient warlords my ass!” he laughed “I could outmaneuver most of them when I was 10! Just a few thousand more years and I might even regain my awakened strength! I only ever lose when there is an unpredictable outside interference,” in other words someone powerful appearing as a reinforcement for the enemy as a part of their trial.

“Halamar did sound rather mad when he called your name,” Irwyn grinned when he recalled the enraged shout from earlier. Considering the power contained within it couldn’t have been anyone else.

“Got 8 wins in a row against that bone eared old dipshit,” Aurelio just snorted, “His strategy is too linear and inflexible, moreover, he gets infatuated with each small victory. I had originally wanted to sacrifice that weakened division to make him overconfident. It almost feels like an insult that he was even allowed to enter this blessed domain.”

Some realms were created purely for the purpose of the trials, others were maintained permanently like the Domain of endless conflict. Most of the beings here were not real: They were just profound flesh puppets born of mana, created by the trial crystal in collusion with Logos. However, the leaders were different, each of them was a soul provided a new vessel after their original demise.

“You know the conditions to receive the offer,” Irwyn smiled at Aurelio’s complaint. The souls which had entered this realm as leaders of those vast armies were not chosen randomly of course.

“To achieve a feat which shapes history and creates legends,” Aurelio repeated the words he had heard all those years ago. When a great warlord or general who had achieved those conditions died his soul would not be sent on its way immediately. Instead, it was stopped by Logos which gave it an offer: To live an eternal war, an endless campaign of limitless battles against the greatest marshals and commanders who ever lived. To a freak obsessed with the art of war like Aurelio this was perhaps the best afterlife, even better than when he was alive in fact. A place where he could challenge leaders which had achieved impossible victories, and bring them to their knees one after another. There were, of course, those who had arrived here as a mere fluke, and only accepted the offer because they were afraid of what might come after death.

“What did the bone ear achieve anyway?” Aurelio still seemed angry that he had to lower himself and teach someone he considered unworthy a lesson.

“Halamar sacrificed his life in order to allow the high-elves to flee the prime material plane. I believe he faced the united army of 3 great empires with merely 1000 men,” Irwyn recalled.

“A brave act,” the disdain in Aurelio’s eyes abated a bit “shame it didn’t teach him jack-shit about strategy,” at that moment a soldier rushed into the tent, and announced: “Marshal, sir, the enemy cavalry is attacking again!”

“The black knights again?” Aurelio’s expression shifted as soon as the topic returned to warfare.

“No, sir, it’s the Crimson parade,” the soldier dutifully announced.

“So he is finally attacking for real,” Aurelio chuckled, “That means he will also make a personal appearance. In that case I should get going,” he stood up from his throne, revealing just how ridiculously tall he was.

“Oh, before I forget,” he waved his hand towards Irwyn and Elizabeth.

[Bonus objective completed]

[Bonus objective completed]

[Bonus objective completed]

[Bonus objective completed]

[Bonus objective completed]

[Maximum number of bonus objectives reached]

[You were designated as ‘Special Lieutenant’ within the Gilded army - you are now separate from the usual chain of command]

“Should I help you out?” Irwyn smiled at Aurelio who was about to leave.

“Against that dimwit?” Aurelio laughed heartily. As those words sounded Aurelio stepped out, barely fitting into the enormous tent’s exit “You can just enjoy the show.”