Death… and me

By the time Rean’s group arrived at the spatial gate in the center of the Dimensional Realm, Luan had already guided Roan, Kentucky, and Celis’s group into taking all the seeds they needed. Although one needed ten minutes to absorb a seed, Luan would always leave someone absorbing a seed while he moved to another one. That way, by the time he was back to take the member he left behind, that one would have finished his absorption already.

“Oh! So you guys are here as well.” Rean was happy to see everyone there. Well, he knew they were there through his connection with them anyway.

“We just arrived,” Kentucky said in response.

Roan wasn’t in the mood to talk, though. “Let’s go. You can speak all you want outside.” Soon after, he passed through the spatial gate with Krikei and the others. Obviously, Rean and Kentucky followed him with their own members.

*Vup, vup, vup, vup, vup…*

It went without saying that the twins’ group were the first ones to appear outside of those who completed the tests. Many had appeared before them, but that was because they crushed their badges in the test.

As soon as they appeared, Rean and Roan received a Divine Sense message from Libraia, explaining that they could bring Luan with them to Jhiod. 

‘Sure enough, they noticed Luan’s abilities,’ Roan mentioned through their Soul Connection.

Rean nodded, saying, ‘We already expected it anyway. Perhaps they even know about Erla. Well, since they didn’t come after her, they might not be looking at us when the event took place.’

Rean then used his Divine Sense to thank Libraia. ‘That’s good to know, elder Libraia. I just hope you and the other elder won’t consider what we did cheating.’

Libraia immediately shook her head, telling him, ‘Demon beasts have an advantage in the Pressure Realm, while spirits have an advantage in the Soul Land. You just so happened to have someone who gave you an advantage in the Null Senses Realm. If we kick you out of the test because of that, we will need to kick everyone else as well. The Realm of Gods had never been fair. The same goes for our tests. If you know a way to complete a test with ease, make sure to use it. I definitely would.’

Rean and Roan nodded after hearing that. Even if she didn’t like their use of Luan’s eye abilities, they could have simply said that there were no rules against it. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary.

‘Now then, we need to check the test while it’s ongoing,’ added Libraia. ‘Once it’s over, come back to the elders’ room again so that we can continue fighting against your weapon intents.’

Rean was more than happy to agree with that. A thousand Rank Two Divine Stones per day was definitely welcome. ‘We’ll definitely be there.’

Rean then looked at Erla, who seemed to be looking for the mercenaries that survived the attack with Blansin. “You won’t find them here anymore,” he said.

Erla nodded in response. “I know. After that crushing defeat, they definitely left to talk with the elders of Blansin’s race.”

Min agreed with Erla, saying, “That’s true. We’ll just have to wait until the next test starts.”

Habac didn’t seem unhappy, though. “Hehehe! Who cares! Four! Four tests in a row! I’ve never thought I would really complete a third of the tests. The last one was even easier. Hahaha! I can see hope in joining the Jhiod Sect now.”

Roan, on the other hand, was talking with Luan. “You did a very good job out there. We avoided all battles while we got all the seeds we needed. From the looks of it, your eye abilities have improved a lot compared to the time I found you.”

Luan nodded, telling Roan, “Yes, father. The range of my Divine Energy and Elements pupils is now two kilometers long. Back when I was a kid, I could only see up to a hundred meters away.”

Last but not least, Kentucky and Celis were receiving the praises of the demon beasts in their group. None of them expected to pass the test that easily, after all.

Outside the Jhiod Sect’s trial building, Blansin, Hume, and the other three mercenaries returned to the elders of the Silver Horn Sturgeon race. Min was right about one thing. Blansin was quite injured as well. It’s just that it had been agreed ahead of time that Blansin would be attacked. 

“W-What happened to all of you?!” Sure enough, Tilte was shocked to see that only four mercenaries returned from the Jhiod Sect’s building.

Blansin obviously pretended to be quite injured. “Elder, we were ambushed in the Null Senses Realm by none other than Erla and her group.”

Tilte quickly helped Blansin by pouring his Divine Energy inside Blansin’s body. As he did that, Tilte looked at the leader of the mercenaries. “Hume, you better give me a very good explanation about this.”

Hume bitterly smiled in response. He definitely didn’t want to enrage these monsters. However, he had to tell everything. “It went like this…”

Tilte and the other elders finally understood the situation. “How did they recover their senses that fast?” He had acquired information about all the tests in the Jhiod Sect’s building. He knew that what Rean’s group did was way too hard to believe.

Hume and the other mercenaries shook their head, saying, “We don’t know. They definitely had some way of finding the seeds. That’s all we can tell.”

Blansin’s complexion improved a bit after that. “Elders. Erla’s group is really strong. Even if they recovered their senses first, they got rid of the mercenaries in our group way too easily. We can’t underestimate them like that anymore.” No one doubted that Blansin was still after Erla’s heart as well.

Hume didn’t want to accept it. “It’s because they ambushed us! If we were in a head-on fig-“

“Enough!” Tilte immediately stopped Hume’s words. “Blansin is right. Even if it was an ambush, just four enemies dealt with nine of you, Blansin included.”

Tilte then looked at Blansin after that. Blansin was the top genius of his generation in their race, so Tilte couldn’t risk his life anymore. “You won’t return there anymore. It’s too dangerous. We will deal with it some other way.”