Genesis & Oblivion: The Celestial Evolution System

Chapter 90: Chapter 90 — The Tenth Floor

The staircase ended.

Azrael stepped onto a wide stone platform.

For a moment, nothing happened.

The others arrived behind him one after another.

Seraphina looked around.

"Where are we?"

There was no battlefield.

No forest.

No formation.

No monsters.

Only an enormous circular hall stretching farther than they could see.

Hundreds of floating platforms hung in the air at different heights.

Some were only a few meters apart.

Others were separated by enormous gaps.

At the center of the hall stood a massive golden pillar.

Azrael activated Origin Perception.

His expression slowly changed.

"I don’t think we’re supposed to fight."

Orin immediately relaxed.

"Finally."

Azrael continued.

"Not yet."

Orin’s smile disappeared.

"Why did you say that?"

Azrael pointed upward.

A mechanical voice echoed through the hall.

[Floor Ten]

The Trial of Judgment

Objective:

Reach the Golden Pillar.

Additional Rule:

Every action will have consequences.

Warning:

Power alone cannot guarantee success.

The platforms suddenly began moving.

Some rose.

Others descended.

Several rotated slowly.

The entire hall became a constantly changing maze.

Lyanna stared at the shifting platforms.

"So we need to figure out the correct path."

Azrael shook his head.

"No."

Caelan looked at him.

"Then what?"

Azrael pointed toward the pillar.

"Look at the floor."

Everyone looked down.

Thin golden lines connected the platforms.

Some lines were bright.

Others were almost invisible.

Caelan immediately understood.

"Those are the paths."

"Yes."

Seraphina frowned.

"But there are too many."

Azrael activated Resonance Sight.

The golden lines became clearer.

Each one carried a different resonance.

Some felt stable.

Others felt dangerous.

Azrael studied them carefully.

"There are safe paths."

"How do you know?"

"The unstable ones have a broken resonance."

Lyanna crouched beside one of the platforms.

"Then we simply follow the stable ones."

Azrael shook his head.

"Not necessarily."

He pointed toward a bright golden line.

"That one is stable."

Everyone looked at it.

"But it doesn’t lead directly to the pillar."

Caelan examined the hall.

"Then the trial wants us to choose between speed and safety."

Azrael nodded.

"Probably."

Orin sighed.

"Why can’t these floors just give us something to kill?"

Seraphina laughed.

"Because apparently the Tower wants you to think."

"I preferred the monsters."

They moved toward the first platform.

Azrael stepped onto it.

Nothing happened.

Caelan followed.

Then Seraphina.

Lyanna.

Orin.

The platform suddenly shifted.

BOOM!

Everyone lost their balance.

Orin grabbed the edge.

"Seriously?"

The platform tilted nearly ninety degrees.

Azrael immediately jumped toward the next platform.

"Move!"

Everyone followed.

The moment they landed, the previous platform disappeared.

Orin looked behind him.

"Okay."

He swallowed.

"Definitely not going back."

They continued.

Each platform presented a different challenge.

One required them to jump while it rotated.

Another suddenly became weightless.

A third split into several smaller platforms.

The fourth released powerful gusts of wind.

But none of them were truly dangerous individually.

The difficulty came from making the correct decision.

At one point, they reached a junction with three possible paths.

The first was short.

The second was longer.

The third was almost twice as long.

Orin immediately pointed toward the first.

"That’s obviously the fastest."

Azrael examined it.

"No."

Orin sighed.

"You always say no."

Azrael pointed toward the second path.

"The first path has unstable resonance."

"But it looks perfectly safe."

"That’s the trap."

Caelan studied the first platform.

Then he noticed something.

"He’s right."

"What?"

"The platform is moving differently from the others."

Seraphina looked carefully.

"It shifts every twelve seconds."

Azrael nodded.

"Exactly."

"If someone jumps when it shifts..."

"They’ll miss the next platform."

Orin looked at the longer route.

"So we take the safe one."

Azrael shook his head.

"Not yet."

Everyone stared at him.

He looked toward the third path.

"The longest route is actually the safest."

Lyanna frowned.

"Why?"

"Because its resonance is consistent."

He pointed toward the golden pillar.

"The Tower isn’t rewarding speed."

"It’s rewarding correct judgment."

Caelan smiled.

"Then the longer path is the answer."

They followed it.

And they were right.

Halfway across the hall, something changed.

A massive bell appeared above them.

BOOM.

The sound shook the entire floor.

A System notification appeared.

[Judgment Phase Activated]

Each participant must make one individual decision.

The choices will affect the entire party.

Orin immediately became serious.

"What kind of decision?"

Five doors appeared in front of them.

Each door displayed a different symbol.

A sword.

A shield.

A crown.

A heart.

A broken chain.

Azrael stared at them.

The System continued.

Choose One

Sword: Power

Shield: Protection

Crown: Leadership

Heart: Trust

Broken Chain: Freedom

Your choice will determine the next trial.

Everyone became silent.

Caelan looked at Azrael.

"We can’t choose together?"

"No."

Azrael looked at the five doors.

"This is why it’s called Judgment."

Each person had to choose according to their own understanding.

Seraphina walked toward the fourth door.

Heart.

She placed her hand against it.

The door glowed.

"I choose trust."

Caelan walked toward the third.

Crown.

"I choose leadership."

Lyanna chose the broken chain.

"Freedom."

Orin stared at the shield.

He smiled.

"Protection."

Finally, everyone looked toward Azrael.

He stood before the remaining door.

The sword.

Power.

Orin laughed.

"That’s definitely yours."

Azrael looked at the symbol.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

Everyone was surprised.

Azrael walked past the sword.

He stopped in front of the broken chain.

Lyanna looked at him.

"You chose freedom too?"

Azrael nodded.

"Power is necessary."

"But power without freedom becomes another form of imprisonment."

The broken chain began glowing.

Then all five doors disappeared.

The hall became silent.

A new message appeared.

[Individual Judgments Recorded]

Seraphina — Trust

Caelan — Leadership

Lyanna — Freedom

Orin — Protection

Azrael — Freedom

Evaluation:

No answer is inherently correct.

Understanding determines the value of the choice.

The floor changed again.

The floating platforms disappeared.

Everyone landed on a solid circular arena.

Five symbols appeared beneath their feet.

Seraphina’s heart.

Caelan’s crown.

Lyanna’s broken chain.

Orin’s shield.

Azrael’s broken chain.

The golden pillar in the distance opened.

A path appeared.

But it was different now.

Instead of one route...

Five different routes stretched toward the pillar.

Seraphina looked toward Azrael.

"So we each have our own path."

Azrael nodded.

"But they all lead to the same destination."

Caelan smiled.

"Just like the old master’s lesson."

Azrael’s expression softened.

"Different paths can reach the same destination."

He remembered those words.

The Tower had given them different choices.

Different beliefs.

Different strengths.

Yet none of those choices prevented them from moving forward together.

Azrael stepped onto his path.

The others did the same.

Immediately, the five paths began moving.

Some rose.

Some descended.

Some twisted sideways.

The group was separated.

But they could still see one another.

Seraphina called out.

"Azrael!"

"I’m here."

"Don’t rush!"

He smiled.

"I won’t."

For the first time since entering the Tower...

Azrael didn’t feel the need to control everything.

He trusted the others.

And they trusted him.

They continued forward.

Step by step.

Platform by platform.

Until all five paths finally merged before the Golden Pillar.

The System appeared.

[Floor Ten Complete]

Trial Type: Judgment

Result: Passed

Individual Judgment: Accepted

Team Cooperation: Excellent

Understanding of Personal Path: Increased

Mental Resistance: Increased

Reward Granted

A soft golden light descended over the group.

Azrael felt his mind become slightly clearer.

His understanding of his own path had deepened.

The System appeared once more.

[Celestial Evolution System]

Combat Insight — Lv. 8

Origin Perception — Lv. 6

Resonance Sight — Lv. 2

Astraeus Sword Art — Lv. 4

Evolution Progress: 42%

Azrael closed the screen.

Orin stretched his arms.

"Ten floors."

He smiled.

"We actually made it."

Lyanna nodded.

"And we still have no idea how many floors remain."

Caelan looked toward the next staircase.

"Then we’ll deal with them one at a time."

Seraphina walked beside Azrael.

"How are you feeling?"

Azrael thought for a moment.

"Better than when we started."

She smiled.

"Good."

The group approached the staircase together.

This time, they didn’t wonder whether the next floor would be difficult.

They already knew it would be.

They simply continued upward.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!