The Final 500 Steps

Now that Urza has seen and heard enough, he stepped into the 3500th step. Eris and Allie were satisfied that they decided to wait and proceeded ahead. The two completely robed covered men did not waste any time and went up ahead.

"Hmm..." Asif was observing them.

"We didn't see a lot of participants when we came rushing in." Ray spoke.

"Most of them likely got eliminated and the ones that remain have a high chance of getting into the final round." Khai said.

"Did you notice something, Asif?" Lobian asked.

"Their speed has reduced by a lot compared to before." Asif answered.

"I guess the true challenge starts on the 3500th step." Khai said.

"Then let's go." Asif said and walked onto the 3500th step. As soon as he entered, a powerful strange energy swept over his body, flowing through every single cell of his body and his elemental core. Previously, the pressure only bore on his body but now it seemed to press onto his elemental core as well. The pressure has also increased by a great amount.

'No wonder they were slow...' Asif thought while he adjusted his body and mind to the new found pressure. Every time he took the next step, the pressure on his body and elemental core would increase by a lot compared to the meagre increase from the previous steps.

'First, the body and then the core. What next...?' Asif pondered as he climbed the stairs. The others followed suit experiencing the same.

-In the VIP lounge-

"Kazul, it looks like your son is going to be Rank 1." Goborn Sharka commented.

"Of course, as expected." Kazul Kallux slightly smiled.

"You two, have you forgotten my son is right there?" Inaros Belron lifted up his eyebrow.

"Hahaha!" Goborn laughed.

"Although your son is indeed very talented but compared to Urza, there is no comparison." Kazul said as a matter of fact.

"I think none of the two will be Rank 1."

The three turned towards Abzol Furis who just spoke.

"HAHAHAHA! So you think your son will be Rank 1?" Goborn smiled.

"Of course not. He will be great but now is not the time for him to shine." Abzol lightly smiled.

"I wonder what makes you say that." Inaros spoke.

"So who do you think will be first, Abzol?" Kazul narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know." Abzol nonchalantly said.

"Huh?" Kazul did not expect that.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Goborn burst out in laughter.

"Don't forget about Alexander's team and my children." Kayill spoke with a certain magnetism.

"Your children, I understand but a bunch of children from an underdeveloped planet?" Goborn shook his head.

"Their origin doesn't matter for now. Their performance so far has been comparable to the elite geniuses of our starfield. That should say something." Kayill shrugged and said.

"They will be nothing in front of Urza." Kazul calmly said.

"Interesting..." Abzol deeply pondered.

"Well, they're getting to the final part now. Let's see how they handle the next level." Inaros smiled.

-After about an hour-

The current count of participants in the Mystical Stairs have reduced from 10000 to just 354 participants showing how extremely difficult it is to climb the Mystical Stairs without a sufficient body constitution. The current top 10 in the leaderboard was something like this.

Rank 1 - Urza Kallux, 3984 steps.

Rank 2 - Asif Vizier, 3983 steps.

Rank 3 - Eris Belron, 3981 steps.

Rank 4 - Khai Aeron, 3981 steps.

Rank 5 - Ash Frudae, 3980 steps.

Rank 6 - Bane Thrull, 3978 steps.

Rank 7 - Ray Angelo, 3978 steps

Rank 8 - Bryan Pine, 3975 steps.

Rank 9 - Kaya Aeron, 3971 steps.

Rank 10 - Algo Killian, 3970 steps.

'Ugh, this pressure is fucking unbearable and what's more is that I have got this fucking asshole right next to me.' Ray grumbled inside as he let his body adapt to the insane pressure and the person accompanying him on the same step is the black robed man named Bane Thrull.

Meanwhile, Ash was sweating profusely. He could feel every inch of his body being glued to the stairs making it hard for him to move forward. What's more, he has to constantly keep track of his core and protect it with his elemental energy from the strange energy's constant bombardment.

'I swear, if I don't get a nice delicate carrot cake at the end of this, I'm gonna fucking lose it.' Ash clenched his fist and stepped forward.

Bryan, with the help of his darkness element, could chip away the strange energy attacking his core by slowly devouring a miniscule amount of it. Nevertheless, climbing the stairs made it a tiny bit easier for him.

-In the audience stands-

Alexander, Old man Reid and Zac were watching the five anxiously. They were so close to the top yet so far.

"They only got a few more steps left." Old man Reid said while frantically stroking his beard.

"Come on..." Zac interlocked his fingers and muttered.

"That Godsun is going to be a troublesome opponent." Alexander slightly frowned.

"Do you know something about him?" Zac asked.

"Not much but I know he's the crown prince of the Klagan Kingdom." Alexander said. Zac and Old man Reid instantly frowned.

"The Klagan Kingdom..."

"It just had to be them." Zac grunted.

"Don't worry, Alexander. No matter what happens, we know that our kids are not that simple." Old man Reid confidently said. Alexander nodded and the three turned their attention towards the few final steps.

"Look, who is that guy next to the Godsun?" The audience were rolling in their seats. The final steps were getting fierce and this riled up the audience. It has been a long time since anyone has ever seen this many elite geniuses at the topmost part of the Mystical Stairs.

"A dark horse?"

"No way, nobody can beat Godsun."

"YEAH, HE IS THE BEST!"

"GODSUN!"

"GODSUN!"

"GODSUN!"

"These fanatics need to tone it down..."

Meanwhile on the 3993rd step, Asif and Urza struggled to stay afoot. The pressure made their bones creak and threatened to crush them. The strange energy increased in lethality and they had to expend more of their elemental energy to protect their core.

"Haha, I-I never expected anyone to be here..." Urza chuckled with strain.

"The universe is unfathomable, be humble with your expectations." Asif curtly advised him.

"Hahahahaha!" Urza laughed. He then shook his head and said, "I'll show you the difference between you and I!"

Urza took a deep breath and slowly golden lines starting forming on his face. His golden eyes started glowing with ferocity and a strange aura erupted from him.

'What is he-'

With newfound strength, Urza gritted his teeth and pushed forward. Without stopping for a single moment, he kept on advancing step by step.

The audience were cheering aloud when they saw someone nearing the top of the stairs.

Asif frowned and thought, 'It must be a secret technique of some kind.'

-In the VIP lounge-

"Ohhh..." Goborn understood something after watching Urza's small transformation.

"So, he has a unique body type." Abzol slowly uttered.

"Heh..." Kazul grinned.

"A generational genius indeed." Inaros spoke.

"Though, it doesn't look like he'll reach the top." Kayill casually said.

-In the audience stands-

"I never thought I'd see the appearance of the Golden Sun body." A creature with a red shelled body and three eyes muttered aloofly. Nobody beside him in the audience heard him nor even noticed his presence.

"Looks like he activated his afterburners." Zac grumbled.

"It should be temporary." Old man Reid said.

"Yeah but for how long?" Alexander slightly frowned.

Urza kept advancing step by step and he looked unstoppable as he stepped onto the 3997th step. But the pressure drastically increased slamming into him and halting his momentum.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Asif gritted his teeth as he resisted the pressure and focused everything he had to push forward. His elemental core slowly started to expand in size from all the pressure and constant assault from the strange energy. Asif sensed the change and realized what was happening.

'I'm about to breakthrough!'

The other participants near him sensed the sudden influx of elemental energy and saw it was being converged near Asif.

Urza looked back with difficulty and noticed the phenomenon. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "He's going to breakthrough? That means he wasn't at the peak this entire time?"

'That fucker is going to do it huh...' Ash smiled inside.

Eris observed the situation and uttered softly, "He isn't at the peak?"

Khai chuckled nearby and said, "If he isn't at the peak stage, then I wonder what about the rest...?"

On the other hand, Algo felt like he was doing an insane workout session. He could feel every cell in his body tremble under the intense pressure.

*Ugh*

'Aw man, how are the others doing it...' Algo felt like he could just fall asleep right now but that would mean he would be letting down the people counting on him and his brothers.

"Algo?"

"Hmm?" Algo heard a sweet female voice and looked up and saw Kaya.

"One of the prizes for reaching the top is a rare delicacy that only appears every 10 years. So, it's too early for you to stop now, isn't it?" Kaya seriously said.

"A-Are you serious?" Algo asked in disbelief.

"I'm the King's daughter. I have my ways." Kaya smiled.

"A rare delicacy..." Algo instantly drooled at the thought of it. With newfound vigor and determined eyes, he bravely stepped forward.

Facing against the pressure, he could feel a change in his elemental core. Algo was previously close to breaking through and after the constant pressure on his body and his elemental core, he is ready to breakthrough the next stage now.

Just like with Asif, the same phenomenon occurred with Algo. Kaya looked at him with a smile. The others apart from the brothers were in disbelief that there were two participants breaking through at the same time.

Eris sensed another influx of energy and said in a surprised tone, "Another one?"

Khai looked back and saw who it was, "Algo huh..."

"One of them again?" Eris asked.

"Indeed." Khai said happy for them.

Ray, Ash and Bane were on the same 3993rd step right behind Asif. The two witnessed his breakthrough and smiled inside. Bryan was right behind them and even with the help of his darkness element, it was hard for him to move forward.

*Phew*

Asif exhaled and opened his eyes feeling stronger than before after his breakthrough. He loosened his fist and with determined eyes, he stepped into the next step.

Just like Urza, he didn't stop in his tracks and continued to climb the stairs with renewed vigor. The audience looked on with incredible fascination that the same person was about to reach the Godsun.

Not before long, Asif was standing right next to Urza on the same 3997th step. Asif stopped as well after experiencing the harsh increase in pressure.

*Huff*

"Heh, not easy is it?" Urza heaved with exhaustion and pain.

*Ugh* Asif groaned slightly in pain.

"Still, I can't believe you just broke through. What stage are you at now?" Urza asked with difficulty.

Asif looked at him and smiled, "Aren't you curious for a God? To answer your question, I'm at the 9th stage."

"The peak stage..." Urza slightly trembled inside considering he was at the 8th stage this entire time.

"And do you want to know something?"

Urza felt eerie inside and spoke, "What?"

"My brothers are at a lower stage than me and they're close to the top. I wonder how would you perform if you were at the same stage." Asif mockingly smiled.

"Tsk, you think I'm going to believe that?" Urza obviously did not believe him.

"Whatever!" Asif didn't bother with him anymore. Asif took another deep breath and slowly lifted his leg.

"I-Impossible..."

Urza eyes widened in disbelief as he saw Asif slowly move forward to the next step. Ray and the others smiled in advance. The audience were roaring in frenzy and in utter chaos.

"H-He actually passed the Godsun..."

"He's on the..."

"3998th step!"