[Vol. 8] Chapter 116: All Beings and All Forms, Like Passing Clouds
People from the Holy Capital and tourists kept coming and going to watch the event, with new crowds replacing the old. Still, it was hard to find even a single empty seat. The Holy Knights guarding the church worked in shifts, taking turns day and night without stopping.
However, the trial participants waiting for their turn were not allowed to leave or take a break. They could only sit on the ground quietly, resting their minds while they waited for the people ahead of them to finish.
As night faded and the sun rose again, the trials continued without pause. The Church had arranged it this way on purpose, there was no break at all. The Judgement Saintess, being a true high-level powerhouse, had a body far stronger than normal people. She did not feel tired from working nonstop for a few days. She could even go without food or water for a while by relying on her body's inner energy, truly able to stay awake and active the whole time.
While Frederica could handle this easily, the thousands of trial participants who had to stay with her had a much harder time. The Church handed out food and water at set times, and if someone needed to use the bathroom, they could ask a Holy Knight to escort them to the edge of the plaza. But sitting and waiting in the open air like this was still a great challenge to their mental strength.
Everyone who passed the first screening to get into this stage had some level of skill, so waiting for many hours, sometimes tens of hours, wasn’t enough to make them collapse. Still, the longer they waited, the more tired they became, and the harder it would be for them to pass the upcoming divine trial. Compared to those who went up earlier, this was clearly a disadvantage.
But no one complained. Even when someone with a bad temper tried to protest, the people nearby would quietly remind them of the risks, and the person would quickly fall silent.
The trial was fair. The Goddess herself had said so clearly when she arrived. And now, everyone could see what that meant.
The Church had not revealed any details of the divine trial in advance. Everything inside had to be discovered and understood by the participants in real time. In this situation, going first was clearly harder, because you had no clues or preparation. But those who went later had more time to observe and prepare, giving them a better chance to pass.
If that were the case, then the trial wouldn’t be fair at all.
That’s why the Church gathered everyone and made sure the entire trial phase was finished in just a few days. The ones who went later might be more tired from waiting, but they also got more time to prepare, creating a kind of balance.
People still remembered how the first hundred participants all failed one after another, and it wasn’t until the appearance of the one called “Mr. Dead Soul” that someone finally made progress. Compared to that kind of sudden and helpless failure, just waiting a bit longer didn’t seem unfair at all.
Of course, during all this, a certain priestess and her dragon girl were quietly mixed in with the crowd, calmly waiting for the participants at the front to finish.
With their strength and bodies, they could easily go days, or even months or years, without sleep or food and still be fine. Miss Dragon God might be a bit bored with nothing to do, but Violet was busy the whole time.
Each person who walked under the statue to take the trial had their thoughts and feelings, including what they saw and sensed through their inner demons, sent directly to the priestess. Thought has no sense of time. For many participants, a few seconds in the real world could feel like hours, days, or even longer in their minds.
It was like waking from a vivid dream. It might have been short, but the emotional impact was deep. That’s why even powerful martial artists and great magic masters often failed the trial, falling apart and leaving in shame. Only a few with truly strong wills could pass.
Violet was feeling everything that the trial participants were going through. She witnessed their fear, greed, love, and hatred. But to her, it was like watching flowers that bloom and fade in an instant.
These emotions couldn't stir even the smallest wave in her heart, which was full of divine calm. If anything, it felt like she was watching one movie after another about different people's lives. Some were overly dramatic, some were dark and full of lies or pain, but overall, it wasn’t boring.
This was her first time truly feeling what it was like... to look down upon the busy world from a god’s point of view. And she realized something, these so-called "elites" of the world were really not that different from ordinary people.
Of course, during this time, Violet also noticed many interesting and unusual people, some of whom she already knew.
There were the other three members of Mr. Dead Soul’s team, two foreign girls who had followed her from the Ancient Spirit Realm, and even Sasha, a disciple of Crimson Flame Flora, who used to be the captain of the Xavier Merchant Guild’s guard during the Fourth Demon War.
There was also a Holy Knight who should have died, but had returned to life because of changes in history, and many others she had met long ago in the Demon Mountains, the lawless land in the southern region, or the Azure Sky Kingdom.
This trial to choose Chosen Heroes was like a huge magnet, pulling in all the powers and fates of the world toward the Holy Capital. Among them, Miss Shadow and the scholar Ayla, both of whom had been personally invited by the priestess also appeared just as expected.
Although Miss Shadow, a secret agent of the Human United Kingdom, had disguised herself as a young man with a cloth covering her face, the priestess wasn’t fooled. With her [Reincarnation] ability that could see into people’s hearts, she instantly recognized who the thin, quiet “boy” on the stage really was.
Even though Violet didn’t plan to make things easier for her friends, most of the people who had met her on her journey and left an impression were already special in some way, either powerful or important. So most of them passed the first round of the trial, which was actually the easiest. Still, a few of them had deep secrets that even surprised Violet when she saw them.
And so, with lights burning bright in the Grand Church for three full days and nights, the first round of the trial finally came close to the end at noon on the fourth day.
Having watched the whole trial from many different angles, Violet didn’t need to look at the exact numbers to get a good idea of the results.
Out of nearly ten thousand participants, fewer than five hundred were likely to pass to the next round. That’s a success rate of just one in twenty. But that only showed how valuable the qualification really was. After all, if you want to win one hundred thousand holy gold coins for free... it’s not going to be easy, is it~?
“Ahem! Looks like it’s our turn now.”
As the end of the trial approached and there were fewer and fewer people around, Violet gave a small cough to wake up her dragon, who was getting so bored she was about to fall asleep standing up. Violet was ready to step forward and make an appearance for the trial.
But just then, a voice from in front of her caught her attention.
“Big sister, are you a messenger sent by the Goddess?”
“…?”
Violet raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. She hadn’t realized at first that the voice was talking to her. Curious about the question, she looked over toward the figure standing not far away in line, waiting to take the trial.
“A Lightborn tribe?”