---
The golden road ahead shimmered, stretching into infinity — a brilliant promise of glory, fortune, and death.
Lian and his team barely had time to catch their breath.
The victory over the Gatekeeper had cost them dearly. Their health bars were low, armor cracked, vehicles half-destroyed.
But they had made it.
Or so they thought.
Because the Grand Road... was not a reward.
It was the real battlefield.
---
The system activated.
> [ System Evolution Available! ]
Choose your specialization based on your path so far.
---
Lian's Choices:
1. Fate Breaker – Specializes in overturning impossible odds and forcibly creating critical moments.
2. Coin King – Specializes in economic domination: increases coin generation, spending buffs, and wealth-based attacks.
3. Phantom Cyclist – Specializes in speed, stealth, and phase-shifting to avoid death and assassinate enemies.
---
Lian didn't hesitate.
"Fate Breaker."
Because he knew — luck, wealth, and skills were useful.
But breaking fate? That was survival itself.
---
Talent Evolution: Fate Breaker
New Skill: Destiny Crash (Active) — Force the world to create a 5% chance for any impossible action to succeed.
Passive: Doom Diver — Every failure increases next success chance by 2%.
Ultimate: World Splitter — Once per week, shatter one rule of reality for 10 seconds.
---
As the system finalized the evolutions, the golden mist ahead stirred.
From its depths, figures emerged — not weak survivors like before.
But champions.
Each radiated terrifying power.
---
The first was a woman with snow-white hair and black robes, riding what looked like a throne floating in midair.
Around her, the mist froze into jagged spears.
> [ Challenger: Selene the Frost Monarch — Rank S ]
Her eyes glinted with cold amusement as she regarded Lian's team.
---
The second was a giant man — muscles like boulders, flames leaking from his mouth, driving a hellish chariot pulled by skeletal beasts.
> [ Challenger: Ignis the Flameborn Juggernaut — Rank S ]
He laughed, a sound like volcanic eruptions, and pointed at Demist. "You look tough. Let's crack your bones."
---
And the third…
Was a boy.
No older than Jayce.
Dressed casually, with messy hair, whistling a happy tune as he pedaled on a golden tricycle.
But every step he made caused the very road to bend around him.
> [ Challenger: Kai the Road Warden — Rank SS ]
Even Selene and Ignis tensed at the sight of him.
---
System Warning: Rival Encounter!
These champions have also cleared the Gate of Trials.
Only one team can dominate a sector of the Grand Road at a time.
Battle is optional... but declining will relegate you to lower tiers.
---
Jayce looked at the monstrous opponents, then at his battered slingshot.
"...Are we gonna pretend we have a choice?"
Lian grinned despite the bleeding from his lip.
"Nope."
He sat atop his Photon Cycle, eyes gleaming.
"We're taking them down."
---
Hardcore Battle: Rivals Clash
---
First Strike: Ignis the Flameborn
Ignis didn't wait. He charged like a raging comet, his beasts howling as molten chains lashed forward.
Demist met him head-on.
Their clash shattered the air.
Demist's axe struck the chariot, sending sparks flying.
Ignis laughed and grabbed Demist barehanded, crushing armor like paper.
Jayce fired grenades — only for Ignis to shrug them off, flame-forging a shield midair.
Lian knew: they couldn't win by brute force.
"Split them up!" Lian commanded.
---
Selene's Frost Dominion
Selene conjured blizzards so cold that time itself slowed around her.
Elric struggled to even chant spells as his voice froze mid-syllable.
Selene raised a finger — and an entire storm hurled toward them.
Lian, thinking fast, used Phase Shift on his Photon Cycle, grabbing Elric and dragging him out of the frozen death zone.
"Focus her down later!" Lian barked. "Kill the Juggernaut first!"
---
Kai the Road Warden
Kai smiled peacefully and just rode around the battlefield.
But wherever he went, luck twisted.
Jayce's bombs exploded in his hands.
Elric's runes miscast randomly.
Demist tripped on his own broken weapon.
"He's a walking cheat code!" Jayce screamed.
Lian narrowed his eyes.
"Kai's manipulating probability. He's like me, but worse."
---
Strategic Plan
Lian triggered Destiny Crash — injecting an impossible critical hit into Demist's next attack.
Demist roared, his axe glowing, and with superhuman effort he shattered Ignis's left beast.
Ignis stumbled.
That was the window.
Everyone focused firepower onto Ignis's core.
Lian accelerated — photon cycle spinning like a buzzsaw — and drove straight into the heart of the chariot.
---
> [ Critical Hit! Juggernaut Core Shattered! ]
Ignis howled — his body breaking apart into embers — before he detonated in one last eruption.
Demist collapsed onto his knees, barely alive.
One down.
Two to go.
---
New Threats:
Selene activated her Absolute Zero field. The world began freezing in real-time, and even breathing risked turning your lungs to ice.
Kai finally smiled seriously. His tricycle morphed into a radiant, clockwork vehicle — the Destiny Engine.
The battlefield warped.
Time, space, luck — nothing obeyed logic anymore.
---
And Lian realized...
The real battle had only just begun.
---