Chapter 458: Discipline and Destruction
Floor 602 – Crucible Rift
Location: Trial Arena – Judgment Span
When the gate to Floor 602 opened, there was no illusion of welcome. No sprawling landscape. No city. Not even clouds.
Just a war-scarred sky and a long bridge of iron, suspended between two dead cliffs. Lava churned below, and shattered ruins floated in the distance—remnants of failed trials long past.
Leon stepped onto the bridge first, the metal groaning faintly under his boots.
Across the span stood Valzek, the Iron Accord.
A Sovereign-class warrior with twin greatswords, no armor, and a body etched in runic scars that shimmered with equal parts order and ruin. His hair was blackened silver, and a broken crown hung from his hip like a trophy.
He didn’t speak immediately.
Instead, he studied Leon with the calm gaze of a master craftsman appraising a rival’s work.
"You built a floor that doesn’t demand blood," Valzek said finally. "So the Council sends me. The enforcer of tradition. The counter to your ideas."
Leon didn’t flinch. "Then you already know this won’t be a debate."
Valzek nodded. "No. It will be a demolition."