Immediately after the voice said those words, clusters of golden light emerged from the void and began moving toward Kayen, enveloping him.
The light gave off a warm sensation. As it covered his body, Kayen instinctively closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest.
After a brief silence, Kayen felt the warmth gradually fade away. He then opened his eyes.
What stood before him was a mine.
The mine in front of Kayen was abandoned. He could see that the entrance was sealed by massive rocks, the gaps between them extremely narrow. Even if a rat tried to enter, it would not be able to slip through easily.
After focusing on the mine, worried that something might have happened to his body, Kayen began to examine himself, checking for any changes.
He immediately took off his jacket and started inspecting his torso. His body was covered in sweat, full of scars, and thin.
He then moved on to his legs. Nothing had changed.
Next were his arms, no changes either, only dirt and numerous scars.
He checked his hands. His palms were the same as before, nothing different. But when he looked at the back of his hand, he saw a golden tattoo there, exactly where the pulsing sensation had been before.
The tattoo now looked far more detailed. The small golden mark was shaped like a circular rune. Its lines were thin, sharp, and symmetrical, with a single glowing core symbol at its center.
Kayen was mesmerized by the tattoo on his hand. He felt that it was no ordinary tattoo, though he had no idea what its function was.
"I don't know what this tattoo does, but I'll find out once I return safely."
Kayen put his jacket back on and refocused on the mine. He now felt something strange about it. It was still the same mine, its entrance blocked by rocks and covered with plants, yet he could feel the aura of life surrounding it weakening for some reason.
He then examined the surrounding area. It wasn't just the mine, the plants around it felt the same way.
Kayen also noticed ash drifting past him, appearing out of nowhere. The ash floated slowly toward a certain spot, as if drawn by an invisible force.
The ash then collided with itself on the ground, as though merging and trying to form something.
From the point where the ash gathered, a fragment of bone emerged. That bone grew larger as more ash collected around it.
The appearance of the bone shocked Kayen. He stared at it without blinking, afraid he might miss something.
The bone was pale and riddled with wide cracks, looking ancient. Yet the cracks gradually grew smaller, as if the bone were being restored.
Kayen felt that he had to do something, fearing that he was allowing something terrible to happen. But he had no idea what to do, afraid that acting might only make things worse.
Suddenly, without giving Kayen time to think of a solution, another bone appeared from the void.
It wasn't just one, nor two, but three. rib bone, a leg bone, and a skull. And it didn't stop there. More bones kept appearing with every breath Kayen took.
Then the bones on the ground began to rise into the air, quickly assembling with one another like a mecha. Within a few breaths, a complete human skeleton lay before Kayen.
The moment the skeleton formed, Kayen stared at it. In his eyes, it radiated a majestic light that made him want to kneel before it.
Kayen resisted the urge to kneel before the skeleton, yet as he looked at it, he began to feel small.
'Even something already dead is still better than me.'
Kayen didn't mind being looked down upon by the living, but this. this was only a skeleton, yet it radiated a majesty he had never imagined possessing.
The skeleton slowly rose from the ground.
It moved its fingers downward, pointing directly at Kayen, who was still struggling to resist kneeling. Immediately, Kayen was forced to his knees. He tried to resist, but it was futile.
Golden light appeared in the air, moving toward the skeleton and quickly enveloping it.
Once the light had completely covered it, the skeleton snapped its fingers, and the golden light vanished in an instant.
Kayen looked ahead. The skeleton that had been there was now replaced by a man.
Kayen tried to look at the man's face, but the moment he moved his eyes upward, he felt a strong rejection from within himself and immediately lowered his gaze to the ground.
His mind was filled with a sense of danger when he tried to look at the man's face, as if he were a taboo being that must not be seen.
Kayen could also feel a gaze filled with killing intent coming from the man.
'Did I offend him? What should I do now?'
Not only did Kayen not know what to do, he didn't even have the ability to do anything at all.
The man then released the pressure that had been forcing Kayen to kneel. Even so, Kayen still didn't dare to move.
That gaze filled with killing intent made Kayen feel as if an axe were hanging over his head, ready to fall the moment he dared to lift his head.
'Aren't divine trials supposed to be within the limits of one's abilities, making them possible to overcome? This is far beyond me. Damn it.'
Kayen's body trembled in fear. He didn't know what to do and couldn't do anything. His life was now in that man's hands.
Kayen closed his eyes and tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath.
But before he could steady himself, at the very peak of tension, Kayen felt calm.
The trembling in his body vanished completely. The cold sweat that had fueled his fear was gone.
Calm was the only word that could describe Kayen's current state.
Kayen opened his eyes.
He was floating in the air.
Looking around, he saw that time itself had slowed.
He saw the man's face.
The man's face was extraordinary—immaculately clean, without a single blemish.
Not only that, he was extremely handsome, so much so that he could even be described as beautiful. Yet he had one flaw.
His eyes were filled with killing intent, as if he were staring at a bastard who had murdered his parents.
The man's gaze shifted toward a body, a body kneeling on the ground.
That body had no head.
When Kayen saw the kneeling body, he realized it was his own.
'Ah. Damn it.'
Kayen's head was severed incredibly fast. He felt no pain at all during the process, proving how instant it was—so fast that his nervous system didn't even have time to send a signal to his brain.
Kayen, now nothing more than a head without a body, forced his mouth to move and spoke in the language known as runes, used within the Divine Realm.
"Why."