Chapter ?? - Someone interesting (1)

Flash!

A blinding flash enveloped Uriel and the other two. The figures of the three began to sway as the trio was teleported from that place.

With a similar blinding glow as before, the three appeared on a huge hall.

"Did we pass?"

"From the looks of it, yes."

Answering Arisha, Uriel assessed the surroundings with the corner of his eyes. Although several teams had passed the test, the place was deathly quiet. Everyone was assessing each other with a tense and careful expression on their faces, even people from the same team were careful with each other.

'Looks like they were pressed for time.'

Uriel contemplated inwardly.

With the second test's time limit of only 5 minutes, some people would be forced to team up with people close to themselves.

And most likely, the people close to them were people they inevitably fought against. In other words, they formed teams with people who were once their enemies - just like himself and Urek Mazino.

"Huh-uh. These guys are a little too tense, don't you think Uriel?"

"Well, in a way, yes."

Uriel nodded at Urek's question and went back to assess his surroundings.

'I wonder where the Test Administrator is... Uhm?'

He suddenly stopped observing the surroundings when someone suddenly appeared in front of him. The person had a huge smile, a face painted with white makeup, yellow stars below his eyes, and red-black power hair.

'A clown?'

It was definitely a clown. The clown smiled and stretched his palm toward him.

"Hello, friend~. Looks like you passed the test too?"

"Hi. Yeah, it was a little hard but I made it. Looks like you passed it too."

Uriel did not shake his hand and replied with a benign smile. The clown didn't seem to mind that and smiled brightly as he retracted his arm.

"Oh~, I passed, yes. Although it wasn't that hard for me."

Arrogant clown. Uriel narrowed his eyes as he snorted inwardly. It was then.

'Woooow~' A rather surprised shout came out of the clown's mouth. His two eyes were so wide open that they looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets and his mouth formed a big '0'.

"What is it?"

"Hehe, it was nothing, nothing~. So, friend, what would your name be?"

"You can call me Uriel."

"Uriel, Uriel. What a beautiful name~."

The clown observed his stoic expression and laughed happily. At the same time, Uriel was analyzing him.

'What is your goal?'

It was completely unlikely that the clown would continue to pester him without a purpose or reason.

There was something more there.

And just as Uriel had hoped...

"And that sword? She is very beautiful~."

The clown had a purpose. His gaze stared at the Syutingseuta resting on Uriel's shoulders. He seemed quite interested in that sword with a design of a white cross carved into the blade.

'Does he know about it?'

Uriel contemplated and quickly answered him.

"I got it as a gift from a friend."

Arisha beside him cast a glance upon hearing those words. A gift, right? He practically forced her to give that sword to him, otherwise, she would die.

But, the clown seemed to have accepted Uriel's words.

"Oh, you must be very dear to your friends. To be able to receive a sword of such caliber..."

"Yes, I think I am very dear to my friends."

Uriel nodded and smiled without a hint of hesitation as he said those words.

"Haha. That's nice~. So, I wonder if I can touch that beautiful sword~?"

"N..."

Without even receiving his consent, the clown stretched his hand like lightning towards the sword.

It was then

Krrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The atmosphere of the place plummeted.

At the same time, the smile on the clown's face froze and his whole body stiffened. His vision darkened.

'What is it?'

No sound was emitted from his slightly open mouth.

'What is that agonizing feeling?'

Death. The clown was terrified. He felt that if he moved his hand an inch forward, only death would be waiting for him. A disaster was waiting for him an inch ahead.

In a dark space, all he could see were two purple lights. They were Uriel's two sharp, cold eyes that watched his every move.

'...I underestimated him.'

Gulp. The sound of saliva being swallowed resounded and sweat began to drip down the clown's back.

"Little clown, I think you'd better watch where you touch. You know, who knows, you might end up getting hurt~?"

A cold, deep voice rang in his ear.

'He is strong. Ridiculously strong.'

The clown carefully lifted his chin, looking at Uriel who was looking at him with a gentle smile on his face. The young man in front of him looked like just another ordinary young man. But, the clown realized at that moment - the young man in front of him was a real walking disaster.

"Haha... It was a little joke~. No need to go on alert. It was just a joke~."

He quickly pulled back with his arm and didn't give Uriel a second glance as he quickly tried to retreat from that place. But, that would not be such a simple thing. A hand touched his shoulder. The hand squeezed his left shoulder hard, causing his body to lean to the right.

At the same time, Uriel's voice came through his ears once more.

"Then be careful with your pranks."

The clown cringed. His whole body shuddered and he froze in place.

'I'm going to have to use this...?'

He clicked his tongue with a terrified expression on his face And then, just as his hand was about to descend on his baggy pants...

"Well. That's all, you can go."

Urek's grip on his shoulder relaxed. Not a minute went by before the clown's mind was triggered.

Run!

The moment that word appeared in his head, his figure shot like lightning away from that place.

'That clown might be a bit dangerous.'

Uriel squeezed his eyes in the direction in which the clown was retreating and his lips rose slightly.

'A clown who apparently knows Syutingseuta.'

Besides, that thing he was about to pick up...

This is getting interesting.

Uriel licked his lips and a small smile escaped his mouth. He found it quite amusing the way things were going. It definitely wasn't in his plans, but that's what made it more and more interesting...

At that moment, Arisha who was standing silently beside him tilted her head slightly and slowly parted her pink lips.

"....Master."

"What?"

"Why did you leave him? Even though I've only known you for an hour, I know that you would normally kill people like that without hesitation."

"Hmm..."

Uriel raised his head and looked up at the ceiling of the hall. One corner of his lip rose up.

"Because some rather troublesome people are watching."

"Troublesome people?"

Arisha did not understand his answer. Uriel only smiled and shrugged his shoulders, with no sign of explaining. His eyes as he looked briefly at the ceiling, sparkled with a hint of interest.

"Hahaha, I'm back. Who was that clown, Uriel?"

Uriel retracted his gaze and looked perplexed at Urek who suddenly appeared beside him.

'When did he walk away?'

His attention had been stolen by the clown, so he didn't notice when Urek suddenly disappeared for a few seconds. Uriel answered him.

"Just a weak guy."

"Weak? Then I'm not interested."

"Where were you?"

"I went out for a few seconds and met someone a little interesting."

Is someone interesting? The look on Uriel's face changed. For Urek to consider someone as interesting, at the very least they must be someone really very impressive.

"Is he strong?"

"Well..."

From the strange expression on Urek's face, he couldn't be very strong.

"He's not strong at all, he's actually quite weak."

"So..."

"Hahahaha. But, he has something that sets him apart from the rest. I tell you, he is quite interesting. When you get to know him, you'll understand me!"

"...With you saying it like that it makes me want to meet him more and more."

Uriel replied, looking at Urek's amused face. At the same time, his gaze became sharp. He looked around inspecting each person gathered in that place.

'Who?'

Of weak people, there were several. But interesting, huh? Who was he talking about?

"Oh..."

Suddenly, one of Uriel's eyebrows rose slightly as he noticed a certain person in the crowd. He seemed to want to make the people around pay attention to him but, unlike when they first arrived here, the hall was quite noisy.

'So, he's finally arrived.'

The person in question seemed to be having trouble getting the attention of the people around him.

"You bastard weren't you that guy who ripped my arm off in the first test?!"

"Huh?! You want to fight?!"

"Haha! Do you want to fight me?!!!! You only managed to cut my arm off because I was distracted."

"Then, come and I'll cut off your other arm!"

"Ehem..."

"Wow, you can manipulate shinsu? You really are pretty amazing!"

"Hahaha. It's nothing, anyone with training can do that."

"Humph. I'm more amazing than him. I could beat him with just one finger if I wanted to."

"Ehem."

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you. Even if anyone could manipulate shinsu with some training, someone like you can't beat me, someone from the 10 Great Families."

"Ha! Do you think I didn't see you get defeated and run away with your tail between your legs when facing that blue-haired guy? You came running towards me wanting to form a team!"

"What do you know? He is a genius even in the ranks of the 10 Great Families. He is a direct line from the Khun Family."

"You..."

"Ehem!"

With the sound of a loud cough, the whole hall was once again silent. Everyone turned their attention to a man standing in the center of the room. His hair was neatly combed, he wore sunglasses on his face, and he was wearing a black tuxedo.

"So, you guys have finally gone silent, huh?"

The man clicked his tongue. His gaze swept over every Regular gathered in that great hall at once. His gaze paused on certain people, before returning to scan each person there.

'This time, we have some not bad ones.'

The boy from the Khun Family. The girl from the Arie Family. The boy from the Eurasian Family. The shy child. And a few others.

'Indeed. Not bad.'

The man nodded in satisfaction.

"Now that you guys have been silent, I guess it's time for me to introduce myself, right?"

He stepped forward and adjusted his sunglasses. His stiff, cold expression caused a sense of seriousness for the Regulars in that place.

"I will be the Test Administrator who will administer the third test, my name is Dylan. And as you can see, I am a Ranker."

Gulp.

Ranker. As soon as this word was heard could it hear the sound of saliva being swallowed in every corner of the room. Everyone looked at the man, Dylan, with infinite respect. Becoming a Ranker was the main goal of any Regular climbing the Tower, and they had just seen a real Ranker face to face. They just felt respect at the sight of a being who managed to climb to the top of the Tower.

'Just as I expected.'

Uriel looked at the man with an amused expression.

A Ranker. At the moment, this was an existence that even he could not take lightly.

"Ranker? What's that?"

...Well, but the Urek beside him poking his ear with his index finger didn't seem very impressed with Ranker.

'10.000...'

Uriel shook his head with a smile and replied.

"I will explain more about this Tower to you once the third test is over."

"I'm counting on you then, Uriel."

Urek smiled and crossed his arms. His piercing red eyes analyzed the so-called 'Ranker.'

'From the reaction of those guys, this so-called Ranker must be something very impressive, right?'

His teeth showed through his wide smile.

Bzzz, bzz.

In the direction of his gaze, Dylan's entire body shuddered.

'...What was that?'

Having this strange reaction coming from his body, Dylan felt a little strange. The feeling was the same as when a powerful predator is observing to its prey; Dylan felt like the prey.

'Ah. This is no time to think about it.'

Shaking his head to get rid of that feeling and useless thoughts, Dylan continued what he was talking about to the Regulars.

"So, the third test will be fairly simple. Each team will receive one of these vests and one of the team members will have to wear it."

Dylan pulled out a red vest and showed it to the Regulars.

"To pass the test, each team member must be wearing one of these vests."

"I-Is that..."

"Exactly. You must fight other teams and 'steal' their vests. Pretty simple, isn't it?"

A thin smile appeared on his lips and he adjusted his glasses.

Uriel in the distance also laughed softly. He found the situation quite amusing.

He was technically saying that each team should eliminate two other teams to pass their test. Or maybe...

"Here is your team's vest."

Uriel's line of thought was interrupted when Dylan appeared in front of him handing over one of the black vests.

Uriel took the vest and smiled at the Ranker in front of him.

"Thank you."

Dylan didn't give him two looks and ignored him as he handed out the same vest to other teams.

Uriel shrugged and looked at Arisha and Urek.

"Who will get the vest?"

"Me!"

Urek held up his hand with a wide smile on his face.

"Right. Then Mazino gets the vest."

Uriel tossed the vest to him which Urek quickly put on.

It was at that moment that a person approached the Test Administrator as soon as all the vests were handed over.

"S-Sir Test Administrator..."

"Go ahead."

"Where will the test be held?"

Dylan's lips rose a little higher and he adjusted his glasses.

"In this place and at this very moment. You may begin."

"E-E-Excuse me...?"

"Begin."

"S-Sir...I- Aahhhhhhh!"

Woosh!

The sound of air being split resounded and the blade of a sword went through the left shoulder of the person talking to the Test Administrator. The sword went through and cut his left arm causing blood to splatter everywhere.

"Ahhhh! Why?! Damn it!"

Falling to the ground, he cried with tears of blood looking at the person who cut him.

The person in question just smiled nonchalantly and pointed the sword in the direction of his face.

"Didn't you hear the Test Administrator? It's already started."

He then brought his sword down on the poor person on the ground. His sword cut from his head to his groin and split him in half. Blood spurted out like a fountain on all sides.

At the same time, similar situations could be seen all over the hall.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Hahahahaha! Didn't you say you would cut off my other arm?!"

"Humph. Then I'll do it!"

"H-Help...!"

"P-Please I have children..."

In a moment, the place became pandemonium. And somewhere in the corner of this pandemonium...

A boy was lying on the ground. He was trembling heavily with a terrified expression. A gigantic man was trying to calm him down while stretching out his palm to get him up.

"Are you okay? That guy was pretty weak, no need to be so scared. I already took care of him."

The boy shook his head.

"No! Sir Luri! Swerve!"

"Huh? What do you..."

Chwaak!

A white beam flashed across his vision.

'My body?'

The giant man felt confused as he saw his own body in front of him. And then, his vision darkened as he saw a bare foot landing in front of his eyes.

"Sir Luri..."

Chaak!

Another white beam was seen and the boy's head flew off.

"Oh, a vest. Take that one, Arisha."

Uriel removed the blood-covered vest from around the giant man and handed it to Arisha behind him.

"Yes."

Arisha reached out and took the bloodstained vest without frowning.

"Now, only one more to go, right Master?"

"No."

"Huh?"

Arisha looked perplexed at Uriel who shook his head as he examined the people around.

"Let's get some more."

"Why...?"

"Obviously, so we can get more points."

Uriel shrugged with an expression that said, "Isn't that obvious?"

Arisha felt shivers as she saw that indifferent smile on his face.