Chapter 26 : 7-Star Nightmare

"Vorak, check their bodies," Daniel said. Even he couldn't understand how such a thing was possible.

Vorak approached the two corpses, sniffing them and inspecting their bodies.

"Their bodies aren't normal. There's a powerful poison in their blood" Vorak reported.

"A poison? How could the same poison be in all of them?" Emma frowned. To her, it didn't make sense. What could cause a poison to be present in all their bodies?

Daniel didn't say anything, inspecting the corpses again, this time more carefully and using his abilities. Vorak was right—their blood wasn't pure, and it contained foreign particles.

But that wasn't all. Their blood also contained symbols, invisible markings that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

Even Daniel himself wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been examining carefully and wasn't already familiar with the language of the gods.

That's right—the language of the gods. Their blood contained rune symbols.

"They've been marked with runes. If I'm not mistaken, they're space-time runes," Daniel said, frowning deeply.

"That's impossible!" Emma shouted, unable to believe his words. Using runes was already rare and challenging enough, but space-time runes were an entirely different matter.

Daniel frowned as well. These types of runes weren't something just anyone could use. They required incredibly advanced expertise.

"The reason they were teleported here during their awakening is because of these runes. Although I'm not sure about the poison—it might have been the cause of their deaths." There were countless poisons in this world.

Some poisons even contained the power of laws. It wasn't impossible for such a massacre to be carried out with poison.

"My Lord, aside from you two and the corpses here, there's the scent of another human lingering in the air. However, that person is no longer here," Vorak said suddenly, causing Daniel to fall into thought.

Meanwhile, Emma looked at the corpses again. First poison, and now runes… Why would someone go to such lengths to kill these people?

"Do you know anyone in the Vorhelm family who uses poison?" Daniel asked abruptly.

"Poison? No. You should know that poison masters, like rune masters, are extremely rare. Not as rare as rune masters, but still uncommon. It's not a profession many choose," Emma replied.

Daniel nodded. Poison mastery was indeed rare. It required not only significant resources but also extensive knowledge of chemistry.

"It doesn't make sense to go to such lengths just to kill these people. Why? And why them?" Daniel muttered, unable to wrap his head around it.

"I don't recognize them. They're definitely members of the Vorhelm family, but I've never seen them before," Emma added. She couldn't understand why these particular individuals had been targeted.

"Maybe that's exactly why they were chosen—because they're not well-known or influential, and no one would care if they died," Daniel speculated.

The more he thought about it, the more certain he became of his theory. He began going through his memories, trying to recall if there was any mention of such an event in the novel.

Or perhaps a character capable of such a thing. But no one came to mind.

Emma didn't just stand still. She started searching the area, curiosity pushing her to uncover the reason behind this and the identity of the culprit.

Especially since such a massacre would have to be reported to the council. If these people had died fighting monsters, the council wouldn't have cared

But the death of so many family members at the hands of someone else wouldn't go unnoticed.

Especially when they find out that a Rune Grandmaster was involved in their death.

Runes related to space-time are no joke and hold immense significance.

Even among all Rune Masters, only a very small number have the ability to use space-time runes, and all of them hold extremely high positions and are known as Rune Grandmasters.

Coincidentally, there is one such person in the Vorhelm family, one of the main wives of her father.

"Could it be?" A sweet and innocent face appeared in her mind, she they immediately dismissed the possibility.

How could she do such a thing? That girl's heart is purer and kinder than any other living being.

As they continued their investigation, an announcement suddenly appeared before everyone:

[ Congratulations on completing the Minor Mission! ]

[ All awakenings have been completed. ]

[ Initial participants: 322 / Fatalities: 132 / Survivors: 190 ]

[ Lowest awakened talent rank: F (Normal) / Highest awakened talent rank: SSS (Transcendent) ]

As the announcement was read, the eyes of the survivors widened in shock. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

An SSS-rank talent!

"How is this possible?"

"Someone actually awakened an SSS-ranked talent!"

"I thought such a rank was just a myth!"

"The last time someone awakened such a talent was 300 years ago! And that person was the hero!"

"Who is it? Young Master Liam? Or maybe young Lady Emma?"

"It has to be one of them! Only those two have such potential!"

"And what about the F-rank talent? Probably that useless bastard, haha."

"You're giving him too much credit. That trash is definitely dead."

While discussions erupted across the snowy mountains, Emma stared at the announcement with a deep frown.

Her own talent was only S-rank. She was certain her brother's talent would also be either S or A rank. There was no way that idiot could have a talent higher than hers.

But then, who could have awakened such a talent?

"Could it be…?" Emma glanced at Daniel from the corner of her eye. He was still inspecting the corpses, his face indifferent, seemingly unconcerned with the announcement.

If it had been before, she would never have believed it. But after sensing his aura and killing intent earlier… she wasn't so sure anymore.

Just then, another announcement appeared, drawing even Daniel's attention:

[ Great Mission Information ]

[ Name: Snowy Graveyard ]

[ Difficulty: Seven-Star Nightmare ]

[ Do you wish to participate? (Choosing 'No' will result in exiting the trial.) ]

"…"

"This is a joke, right?"

"A Seven-Star Nightmare? Does something like that even exist?! I've never heard of such a thing in my entire life!"

"It exists, but it's been thousands of years since a trial of this level has appeared."

The entire world seemed to go silent. No one could even speak. Emma's frown deepened, turning into an expression of disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A Seven-Star Nightmare! Was the system joking?

"A Seven-Star Nightmare… I think I'd better exit the trial" Daniel muttered to himself in disbelief.

"..."