Chapter 173: Trials of Sacrifice
by xennovel“Yenir!”
“Take care of the child!”
“Please… take the child and go! I, Wang Kun, am in your debt!”
On the roof of an escape vehicle, a hoard of zombies surged relentlessly from behind.
Wang Kun, his skin darkened and his gaze resolute, struggled to keep up behind the vehicle. Gasping heavily, he desperately tried to hand the little boy over to Yenir, urging him to flee with his child.
On the bouncing roof of the vehicle, the chaotic movements of the car tossed everything about.
Yenir watched silently, just half a meter away from reaching the child; a quiet sigh escaping him as he contemplated taking the child.
Now it was the fourth round, and the trial’s difficulty kept increasing.
Not due to the enemy’s strength, but rather the cunning of the challenge.
“Capturing memory fragments… Did I snag Brother Wang’s?”
Yenir’s expression became complex, a rueful smile crossing his face.
He knew it was all a fake, yet everything felt unbearably real. Around him, every cry and wail, every familiar escape squad, evoked memories of his own desperate flight from the past.
Under the system’s deliberate interference, he felt a momentary disorientation, like a vivid, transient dream drawing him back to bygone days.
Seeing Wang Kun pleading for help while ready to fight off the oncoming zombies, Yenir hesitated briefly before coldly manipulating his dagger and driving it straight through the child’s brow.
Before Wang Kun could voice his anguish in a pained, collapsing cry, Yenir efficiently ended him too.
The child could not receive the hand meant to save him.
Yenir sensed a faint aura of danger emanating from the little boy.
No doubt about it; if his heart softened even for a moment, taking the child would instantly transform him into a monster – posing an immense threat at close range.
“I’m sorry, Brother Wang.”
“Next time we meet, let’s share a drink…”
Even as his ‘Brother Wang’—a man who had once spared him—died by his own hand, a bitter smile flickered across Yenir’s face despite knowing it was all an illusion.
Damn system…
It truly was merciless…
The exclusive Awakener Trial; no wonder it tested one’s will to the extreme.
Had he not forged an unbreakable determination in his past life, no one could withstand the system’s interference for long.
A moment’s wavering meant death.
“Next round!”
……….
“Yenir!”
“The Safe Zone has been breached! Hurry, follow us!”
Inside the familiar yet strange classroom, Yenir glanced at his panicked classmates with a distant look in his eyes.
The scene strangely transported him back to when he was 14, still a student before entering the training camp.
He saw a teacher—once kind to him—shivering as he clutched an axe, shouting frantically for scattered students to gather around him.
On the other side stood Wang Zhen with a ghostly pallor.
“Hoo!”
Outside the classroom, guttural roars erupted, drawing tearful cries from everyone.
Perhaps out of courage or responsibility, the ordinary teacher, trembling, gripped his axe tightly and mustered the bravery to charge at the zombies surging in.
“Yenir! Quickly get everyone out!”
“Aaahhh!!”
In an instant, the teacher—completely defenseless against the tearing flesh and the encroaching zombies—was dragged into the horde by decaying, corpse-like hands. Yet, in that moment, a brief gap emerged in the zombies’ circle.
“Yenir… you’ll protect me, right… won’t you…”
“We’ll stick together…”
Their eyes glowed red.
Young Wang Zhen’s face was utterly drained of color as he clutched Yenir’s hand tightly, as if grasping for any shred of safety.
Yenir silently observed the young girl beside him and the anxious stares of his classmates.
In the compartment of his desk, he spotted what looked like half a biscuit, possibly sent by Wang Zhen.
“They took my memory again…”
He murmured in a low, almost inaudible tone.
With his head bowed, Yenir stared at the biscuit, conflicted emotions swirling within him.
In his memories, although Wang Zhen never had much more than him, the girl would always secretly pocket some of her food for him. Perhaps it was youthful infatuation, or the spark of a first bond—both kept unspoken behind the veil of adolescence.
“Don’t use your feelings as a weapon against me…”
Although Yenir couldn’t quite identify his own feelings about Wang Zhen, he knew that this girl had once been the light in his otherwise dark life.
Gazing at her tiny, grasping hand, Yenir managed a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry…”
“Bang!”
This time, he didn’t use Spiritual Power Control to manipulate the dagger. Instead, he gripped the cold blade firmly and plunged it directly into the girl’s heart.
The sound of the blade sinking in was dull and ominous.
For a few seconds after being stabbed, the victim felt no pain.
The girl’s body convulsed violently, her eyes losing their spark in an instant.
She stared at Yenir in disbelief, the hand that had once clung desperately to him slackening as she tried to understand why he had slain her.
“Yen…”
“Nir…?”
Blood loss, weakness.
As if all strength was being drained away, Wang Zhen stood frozen, watching the boy he once adored—watching Yenir’s familiar face—slowly collapse to the ground.
“Why…”
Her faint voice, like a fish gasping for air on a shore, uttered its final query.
Yenir’s expression was a turbulent mix; after taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly.
A second later, he bent down, withdrew the dagger from the girl’s corpse, and channeled his Spiritual Power to precisely eliminate everyone left in the classroom.
Leaving behind only the girl’s lifeless body was the sole act he could bear.
As long as he took Wang Zhen with him, Yenir was convinced he would fail the trial this time.
Seconds later…
Looking into Wang Zhen’s defiant, unyielding eyes, he clenched his right fist and said in a low, determined tone:
“Next round!”
He admitted that he had nearly wavered in this round.
At that moment, his unyielding inner strength seemed to crack open along an invisible fissure.
Glancing subconsciously toward the sky as if seeking out the system, Yenir murmured:
“Is the Awakener Trial meant for me to slaughter everyone with my own hands…?”
…….
“Brother!? You’re back!”
In a shabby tin shack, Ye Xiaoan looked up at the door in surprise, her dirty little face shifting from weariness to a mix of shock and hurt. She hurriedly set aside the circuit board in her hand, her small fingers wrapped in bandages.
Quickly wiping her hands on her tiny jacket,
Ye Xiaoan flung open her arms and, like a little bird, raced forward to embrace her brother tightly.
But waiting for her were only Yenir’s retreating footsteps.