[Max's POV]
[ALTERNATIVE TRIAL PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
[Echo Mirror protocol aborted]
[Fallback Arena – Mirror Colosseum (Fallen Echoes)]
[TRIAL OBJECTIVE – Updated]
– Eliminate as many Echoes as possible
– Survive the Colosseum
[Scoring Parameters—]
Total Echoes destroyed
Time survived
[Summoning Opponents]
"Is that also possible?" I questioned as I read the system panel. I was slightly worried and annoyed. "Just who the hell am I? I swear if someone did this on purpose, it's not funny." I screamed at the end.
The darkness suddenly lifted, and my mouth remained open, shaped like an 'O.' What was in front of me was immemorial; all types of species and beings I had never seen were filling the ground and appearing one by one, like a never-ending buffet.
"System, what the hell is this absurdity?" I asked immediately.
[These are all the previous echoes who had played, defeated, or lost in this dimension]
"I am literally fighting the dimension, huh," I chuckled.
System prompts with names keep appearing in front of me.
[Pyre Warlord] [Electrode Golem] [Bloodmoon predator] [Stormsniper] [Celestial Judicator] [Apex Assassin] [Overlord] [Abyssal Queen] ...
The prompts kept popping on; I just ignored them. I focused on the front. Many were Titans, Elves, Demons, or Vampires, but they were like maxed-out versions of their respective races.
The only good thing in this whole situation was that their power level was capped at A-rank; otherwise, this would have been a whole other scenario.
I unsheathed Lamina; there was no time for comebacks or any jokes. It was the perfect time to see for myself if I could control all those elements simultaneously while doing different actions.
I closed my eyes and emptied my brain of all thought processes; currently the only thing going on in my brain was to keep it simple and clean, with no excessive moves.
I didn't focus much on their appearances; my only goal was to hit their vital points. I commanded all the elements together: multiple orbs of fire, water, earth, wind, plasma, vermillionvolt, lightning, light, darkness, dust, ice, and metal.
I applied a coating of time element on the orbs so that the attacks will hit at least twice or even thrice the normal speed.
Multiple small portals opened in front of a few orbs and a few mini-portals high above, facing downwards.
I could already hear the rhythm of thousands upon thousands of beings, some monstrous, some humanoid, some forever changing their shape, and golems of different unknown metals, all charging towards me like I am the tastiest dish on the buffet.
The saving grace that system gave me was a good distance between me and them; otherwise, I would have been abused and surrounded from all sides.
I completed my final preparation by using the wood element to create uneven ground and traps to slow down their approach. My back was against some kind of barrier, but I didn't know when that barrier might break.
So I created traps all around me and covered them with my 'Mithyā Mandate' skill by illusion.
I gripped Lamina tightly in my hand and said, "I am only going to swing you around; the rest will be up to you, partner."
Lamina hummed happily, assuring me that she is happy to help.
I just gave a little smile and looked ahead as the rampage of all the echoes neared me.
5...4...3...2...1
"Let's dance, partner," I declared.
Most of the traps worked. Caught in the wooden traps, before they could free themselves.
A multitude of elemental ray beams ran down upon them, annihilating them instantly; few who survived were obliterated from the shockwave by sound orbs scattered around.
There was no worry about friendly fire, and I was immune to all elements.
With my Infinite Aegis armed, I jumped down into the empty space caused by the elimination of echoes.
Pyre Warlord hurled a very huge scorching fireball at me. A shimmering water wall appeared, blocking the fireball and engulfing the ball, extinguishing it, then hurled toward the attacker in a water-ball shape.
While my water ball drowned the Pyre Warlord, I faced again the Overlord Titan.
I didn't even try going at it with my strength; instead, I conjured the plasma chains, binding the giant.
Two smaller spheres of VermillionVolt floated around with some gap between them, joined by the thread of lightning.
This thread passed to the neck of Overlord, decapitating him instantly.
All this happened in just under 5 seconds, and I started enjoying the flow of battle.
Every time I swung Lamina, she changed her elemental properties according to the opponent and countered it.
I was not looking to test my strength or my technique or how much I came ahead in nurturing my perception.
I had just one simple goal in mind: an easy, clean kill as soon as possible.
I had created a kind of elemental net around me; whoever entered the net was obliterated by fire arrows, bludgeoned by water balls, frozen by ice, sliced by wind blades, pierced by stone spikes, or lost a part of their bodies in spatial collapse.
However, the sheer number of attackers, there being only one present here, meant everyone's aim was obviously me. So whenever someone crossed the net and lived, my sword cut them into two.
Time started passing by, and slowly I felt like I was in a trance. Lamina was working, performing flawlessly as ever; not a swing goes by in which a monster or two doesn't fall.
I purposely didn't use any flashy attacks from Lamina or create huge elemental spells because in a situation where I am single, I don't know the exact number of echoes I have to face.
This was the easiest and most efficient way to deal with them.
As every second passed, 2 or 3 monsters fell, but I continued swinging my sword and observing the battlefield.
Slowly but surely the orbs didn't even need to be given a command; they were purely moving on my intent.
Few echoes tried to attack in unison to create large damage, but the elemental net was not only there for offense but also for defense. It tanked the attack easily and fired back upon them.
Throughout their attack, just as the system said, if I used the same trick on Overlord again, it didn't work. They were learning and evolving.
This also kept me on my toes despite being in a safe situation because my goal was not only to pass this test but also to find out how many I can face in a battle of attrition.
I sure had Infinite stamina, mana, and mind, but I had never used it like this before.
The attack continued, and I kept my pace of killing 3-4 echoes per second.
Eventually, after a few hours, the speed decreased and finally stopped. Just then the system panel materialized in front of me.
[You have passed the Fallback Arena Trial]