Assassin at Range: The Sniper's Lethal Power-Chapter 97 - : Entering the Ruins

No one would have expected that, a hundred meters below Black Tide Lake, there would be an underwater cave. And inside it, a ruin that resembled a temple.

The ancient writing on the door made Tristan sure of one thing—it was related to Shadow power!

"If it’s a temple, then it means there were shadow gods during the ancient times of ExoGenesis."

Tristan frowned.

That’s where the problem lay. In his previous life, Tristan had survived all the way to the God’s Descent phase. Yet, he never encountered any shadow gods!

Not only that, he hadn’t come across any Shadow Assassins either, and he didn’t know much about Shadow power!

It was a bit strange that he never met any Shadow Assassins, but it was understandable. When ExoGenesis fully descended, many top-tier experts went into hiding. It was likely that the Shadow Assassins were betrayed in his past life.

Going through his memories, Tristan could vaguely recall a few players who seemed like Shadow Assassins. However, they didn’t last until the God’s Descent phase, and there wasn’t much information available on them.

But it was the lack of information on Shadow power! that bothered him.

Because any god, even if they fell a thousand years ago, would always leave behind some trace. But Shadow power! had almost no related records.

There was definitely something hidden in this.

Perhaps the answers could be found in this temple ruin.

Focusing his mind, Tristan began to figure out how to enter the ruin. The black door in front of him emitted subtle energy waves, and based on Edith’s experience, Tristan immediately ruled out the idea of forcefully breaking in.

Besides, as a Shadow Assassin, he was essentially the direct inheritor of Shadow power! Entering the ruin should feel like returning home.

A lightbulb went off in Tristan’s mind.

He stepped forward and placed his palm on the black door.

Thud.

The door trembled slightly, and the sound of a mechanism activating echoed.

Then, the door slowly began to open, the gap widening until it was completely wide open.

He was right.

As he suspected, the answer was right in front of him.

Since it was a door, the most logical way to open it was to simply push.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Behind the door, firelight illuminated the space, and floating magical flames lined the straight path ahead, guiding the way forward.

Since he was already here, Tristan naturally couldn’t leave empty-handed. He stepped into the passage.

Boom.

The black door closed behind him. Tristan wasn’t worried at all. He continued walking forward while observing the passage.

There wasn’t much to see. It was just a plain corridor, the dust on the floor indicating that it had been a long time since anyone had passed through.

After walking about a hundred meters, a new door appeared before him.

It had the same patterns as the previous door, and these could also be translated into ancient writing. The translation came out to two phrases:

"Those who seek the light cannot enter this door."

Tristan didn’t rush to open the door. Instead, he pondered the meaning of the two phrases.

"Those who seek the light" could have two meanings.

The first was people with noble character, those who only yearned for justice and the light.

But Tristan didn’t think this was the intended meaning here.

Shadow power! was merely a form of power—it didn’t require its users to be dark-hearted. After all, how else would he have become a Shadow Assassin?

He wasn’t a paragon of virtue, but neither was he an evil person.

Therefore, Tristan leaned more toward the second meaning.

In this case, the "light" referred to the Light God!

In his previous life, when Tristan and Damien Arrow perished together, the final god to descend was the Light God!

The strength of the Light God far surpassed that of all the gods before him.

But by that point, Tristan was already in battle with Damien Arrow and couldn’t afford to focus on the Light God.

However, he had a hunch that, had he faced the Light God back then, he wouldn’t have even been able to trade blows.

No matter the world, light and shadow were always opposing forces.

If this was the Shadow power! temple, it made sense that the Light God’s followers wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

Tristan was ninety-nine percent sure that his guess was correct.

Calming his mind, Tristan reached out and pushed the door.

There was no resistance, and the door easily swung open.

Behind it was a spacious hall.

It was somewhat worn-down but didn’t show any signs of battle. The only thing that remained was the eternal magical flames, still faithfully emitting light and heat.

Tristan thought for a moment. This temple didn’t look like it had been breached—it seemed more like it had been abandoned.

But why would the followers of Shadow power! willingly leave?

Moreover, from the signs in the hall, the retreat seemed orderly, not in a panic. This suggested that the enemy hadn’t gotten close to this place.

"This is a bit strange."

Tristan muttered to himself.

It was a pity he didn’t have the ability to turn back time; otherwise, he’d definitely want to know what had happened back then.

While he was lost in thought, Tristan’s ears perked up.

He heard a faint sound.

He immediately activated Blink to shift away from his spot.

A slight sound of landing came from behind, and when Tristan turned around, a cloaked figure stood where he had been.

The figure’s gaze swept over him, but their face was obscured.

Under the cloak, there was a swirling mist that concealed their true appearance.

Before Tristan could speak, the figure slowly raised a hand.

"Shadow power! heir detected, initiating legacy trial!"

"Wait..."

Tristan didn’t even get the chance to finish before the scene in front of him suddenly shifted.

The once empty ground now had twelve stone pillars, and above them floated a ball of flame.

The next second, the flame split into a single flame arrow, which shot straight at Tristan.

Bang.

The Shadow Prism shattered, blocking the attack.

Tristan quickly shifted positions, hiding behind one of the stone pillars, his mind racing for a solution.

There was no countdown, which meant this so-called trial wasn’t something that would end by simply enduring for a set period—it had a different purpose.

"Is it a test of dodging skills?"

Tristan thought, glancing at the corner of his eye. He noticed that his shadow was shrinking.

From the change in light, it looked like the flame had split into two and was closing in from both sides.

Tristan decided to move toward the other pillar for cover.

However, as soon as he tried to move, dozens of flame arrows rained down on him, and the layers of his Shadow Prism were instantly shattered.

Everything went dark, and Tristan found himself back at the center of the open space, with the flame overhead now reduced to one.

The next second, the flame shot toward him again, breaking through one layer of Shadow Prism.

Tristan scanned his surroundings and realized that the number of charges on his Shadow Prism had dropped from 5 to 4.

"It reset!"

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Tristan immediately reacted.

It seemed like the flame had killed him instantly, but the decoy voodoo doll hadn’t triggered, which meant this "death" wasn’t a true death.

However, from what he’d just experienced, if he didn’t figure out how to break this loop, he would likely be stuck here, starting over infinitely.

And that was no different from death.

In fact, it was even more terrifying.

Death was nothing but a quick blink of an eye.

But being endlessly reset would erode one’s will, slowly driving them to give up and become as lifeless as a rock.

"Damn, nobody told me there was this part of the trial!"

Tristan couldn’t help but complain.