[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a":3,"chapter-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-995":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},552505,801,"Chapter 995: Combat Trial (2)","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-995",995,"\u003Cp>Kaireth hadn’t responded when they told him. Hadn’t nodded. Hadn’t objected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But something cold and tight had settled just beneath his ribs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t naïve. He knew how the games worked. Connections mattered. Favors mattered more. And if a small hit to his trial evaluation got him one inch closer to the Crown Prince’s inner circle, then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So be it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that didn’t make it less annoying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Annoyinghow Lucavion just stood there, like none of it touched him. Like he hadn’t come up from gutter districts and still walked like the ground was his to claim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Annoyinghow his record remained clean despite the pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And most of all—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Annoyinghow it felt like Lucavionknewall of it. Not guessed. Not assumed.Knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth exhaled once, slow and silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Positions,\" he muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dain cracked his knuckles, already forming a sigil in the dirt with his heel. \"Finally. Thought we’d get through this without any excitement.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ward beneath their feetshuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A low hum, almost musical, spiraled up through the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion turned his head slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the world fractured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—KRSHHH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pulse burst from the center of the courtyard, splitting the air with a ripple of distortion. The glyphs beneath their feet ignited in layered gold, twisting outward like a thousand veins rupturing beneath glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the far end of the ruined plaza, the groundtore open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black roots snapped back like tendons torn loose from muscle. The earth heaved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And something stepped through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a projection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a mere phantom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was illusion—but illusion woven withweight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its breath steamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its clawsbitinto the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And its eyes—glowing, layered in a sickly mauve light—locked on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Basilican Mauler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Damn, is this real?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth thought, already lowering into a guard stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The creature let out a low, clicking hiss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion was already gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t leap. Didn’t dash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just moved—one second there, the next slashing a precise arc at the Mauler’s shoulder, estoc gleaming with void-light that blurred at the edges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—CLANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The creaturereeled—not from pain, but from being touched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then it retaliated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tail lash, thick as a pillar, spun toward Lucavion with an audible whip-crack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth surged forward without thinking, spear in motion, catching the tail just enough to divert its path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stone shattered beside them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dain’s trap activated, a burst of frost locking the creature’s foreleg in place for a second—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mauler snarled andripped free, throwing Dain back with a shockwave of raw mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mauler reared back, hissing like hot iron plunged in ice, but Lucavion didn’t wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved fast. Too fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every step was clean, every motion tight—like his body already knew where the Mauler would strike before it even twitched. He ducked low, void-light pulsing along his blade, then carved across its leg. Again. Then again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—CRACK!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sickening pop. Joint displacement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth caught it—the Mauler stumbled. And Lucavion was already moving again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t roar. Didn’t call orders. He justfought—the way soldiers did when they had no one coming to save them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dain launched another ice spike, pinning one of the Mauler’s arms. \"I got it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold him there!\" Saphielle called, her voice tight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The earth beneath the Mauler’s rear legs exploded upward, spears of stone driving into its flanks. The creature staggered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the opening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion flicked his wrist once—then drove his estoc straight through the underside of its throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—THUNK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The illusion cracked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beast flickered, shuddered, then burst into light and ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Breathing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth’s lungs burned slightly, but he wasn’t out of breath. None of them were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion stood a few feet away, blade still lowered, his coat rustling in the breeze like it hadn’t even been touched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth stared at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’That was a mid 4-star monster. Even if it’s illusion... it moved real. Hit hard. That thing could’ve taken out half a class.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swallowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And he cut through it like it was nothing.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it made sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The subtle pressure from above.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t about his attitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was about what hecould do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’This guy... he’s strong. Stronger than most of the nobles in our year. Probably stronger thanme.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t like the thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he understood it now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—he saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>High above, standing along one of the false towers generated by the illusion field—an instructor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tall figure, robes fluttering, eyes lockedonlyon Lucavion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when Lucavion turned slightly, shifting his weight back into a loose resting stance, that instructor gave a tiny nod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Notto Lucavion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Kaireth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His stomach turned, just a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Dain’s voice piped in beside him. \"You saw that too?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saphielle didn’t speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Kaireth looked at them, they were already looking at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next wave came faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three—no, four shapes flickering into existence at the courtyard’s far edge. Slimmer than the Mauler. Smoother. Covered in chitin-like plates and moving like wolves with blades for limbs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Illusion beasts again. High-end mimicry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Kaireth didn’t know what the monster’s name was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was way too fast and fluid to be a low-tier monster at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion was first to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth followed. Dain behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saphielle didn’t rush in. She was already adjusting the terrain, raising jagged rock barriers to funnel the beasts toward a kill zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Natural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Kaireth caught the angle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She raised one of the ridgesdirectlyunder Lucavion’s feet—just enough to throw off his landing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion’s boot hit it mid-stride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His balance faltered for a split second—only a second—but it was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the wolves shot toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaireth reacted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too late to stop the obstacle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not too late to pretend he hadn’t seen it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion didn’t fall. Hetwistedin the air, planted a hand on the stone, and launched himself sideways mid-movement, flipping into a skid that carried him just out of reach of the creature’s jaws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s adapting even to that?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came Dain’s mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flame burst—\"miscast\"—landing far too close to Lucavion’s left side. The impact forced him to pivot again, just as another illusion-beast lunged from the rubble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion spun, blade snapping upward just in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—SHRKKK!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The creature split in two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his coat was torn now. Blood on the side. Shallow wound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion dropped low, boot sliding across fractured stone as he twisted out of the creature’s path. The wolf-thing’s jaw snapped closed just behind his shoulder, breath like sulfur on his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ground tore behind him—flame impact. Dain’s spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His coat was burned at the edge. His side stung—nothing deep, but it bled. And still, the illusion-beast was already turning, limping, disoriented from his last slash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pushed himself up slowly, bracing one knee on the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And looked at them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just....expected?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That same half-lidded calm settled across his face as he tilted his head, black hair falling slightly into his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the corner of his mouth curled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you doing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1158,"2026-05-30T14:49:17.430Z","2026-06-01T04:31:30.507Z",1,"novelbin.me","ab7fac944b3922c30e8b5b49138972c7b4a6b7099e766b63fa565c72246fa68a","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-996","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-994",1055,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fshattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-cover.jpg"]