A promise of vengeance.

Grimoires are not the only divine artifacts. Besides them, there are skill books.

These, as their names indicate, attribute unique, rare, or even legendary skills to those who are lucky enough to get them.

Once the skill is learned, the book disappears by disintegrating, after having fulfilled their roles.

--

[Illithid - Transcendant-tier]

[lifespan: 1356/-- years.]

[Combat power: --]

-

[Innate Talent]

-Demon of Darkness: Energy Harmony, illusions.

-Psionic: Telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, psychokinesis, Absolute Psionics, Clairvoyance, Extra-sensorial, Meta-gravity, Meta-creativity, Psycho-portation, ...

Challenge: impossible. (+-- XPs) - (+-- EP)

--

Devon's eyes widened at the sight of such nonsense about this... thing.

'…What is that?!'

If he was curious at first, now he only wanted one thing, to get away from here quickly.

Although he couldn't see all the information about that creature, the ones he saw reminded him how dangerous this world could be.

He couldn't tag him otherwise, especially after seeing such information about him through the system.

The only thing he was sure of was that this creature that had taken his image was a beast; not a competitor. 

Two details pushed him to affirm this hypothesis.

The first is the way the system displayed its information.

The second is none other than the system that qualifies it as such.

'But, ... What is an abyssal beast?'

[Creatures born from the miasma of chaos and destruction, the remnants of the monarch of death; like you.]

'…??' His brain had a phenomenon similar to a mental shock after seeing his system's response.

However, although several questions jostled in his mind, he prioritized the most important.

His eyes then landed on Mystic who still seemed undecided.

"[Let's get out of here.]"

"Huh? No way! With so many puppets in his possession, we can...

"[We can't do anything against this creature; only death awaits us if we ever engage the combat against…that transcendent-tier beast.]"

Mystic's eyes blink twice in a row upon hearing this unexpected answer from Devon.

"...I knew he was strong, but not that strong."

'The transcendent rank? This is the first time I've heard of this. How come he knows things that no one else knows about while ignoring the most fundamental knowledge?'

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the unease that Devon's actions created every time.

If she knew about his system, she wouldn't have to rack her brains so much.

As for Devon, a sense of relief refreshed him after hearing Mystic's consent. 

'With so many assets, I'm not even sure if these golems are real or just bait made of illusions to lure us to him. 

Regardless, he's not an opponent of our size, he's of a monstrous level, maybe even ten times stronger than Pettriddas.'

"[Let's hurry before he--!!

Before Devon could finish his sentence, his body began to float in the air, then, pulled towards the last place he wanted to go!

-!?

At this sight, Mystic no longer knew what to say or think.

Under the impulse, she sprinted after Devon after understanding the obvious.

They got noticed. - By the worst of all!

Devon, for his part, was focused on the author of this indelicate act.

To his great astonishment, the latter was looking at them, his eyes arched in their sockets because of the vicious smile on his lips.

The most awful thing for Devon was seeing the six creatures motionless as if they were held by invisible chains.

'He was playing with them, since the start!' He concluded.

Even without proof, he had reason to believe that the six centaurs were being held against their will by this abomination.

In just three seconds, his body arrived near the illithid.

Once near him, but still unable to control his body, Devon looked at him fervently, unable to keep his composure.

Unlike him, the other was looking at him with splendor, like a prehistoric creature in a museum.

After ten seconds of silence, he smiled dangerously and spoke...

"Goodness, I had my doubts at first; but seeing you now, I am now certain, you're one of the monarch fragments."

Although he spoke nonchalantly, Devon felt as if he could hear his voice resonating in the deepest corner of his mind.

For some mysterious reason, Mystic didn't engage in the fight hastily, Devon's words seem to have affected her.

She was ten meters away from them, her hand on her sword, watching for a flaw. 

'This thing has no weakness.' 

It was her warrior instinct that made her wait despite herself. 

Even though she ignored the sense of Devon's words, after reaching a distance of two meters, she could now sense something strange and wild coming from this guy. 

Known for her cold blood, she betrayed that side of her personality—her hand trembled slightly; unable to hide her fear. 

At their silence, the man grinned. 

"I'll make it short; you have two options. One, you die here right now. 

Two, you will triumph against these six abyssal beasts and get out of this place, alive; what do you think?"

As soon as he finished speaking, beasts' howl rang out in the hallway Mystic and Devon had previously walked through.

Alarmed, Mystic turned around.

'Tsk! What a pain!' She swore, cursing her bad luck.

Their only escape's way was now blocked by the last participant who had called Miyorirath his sister.

Elaydja was at first confused at seeing this meeting, then, he smiled, animated by flames of vengeance.

"Oh, it seems that another wants a piece of the pie." Before Elaydja could even speak, the guy spoke in her place.

Then, his hateful eyes landed on Mystic.

-! 

Mystic instinctively recoils after feeling the unfathomable rage in the man's pupils. 

'This hate, this hate's intensity is beyond the common mortal. Why? Why does he have this kind of hatred towards me? Does he know me?' Between his confusion and his terror, Mystic's body found itself frozen, unable to obey him. 

The same feeling invaded Devon as well. To be more precise, it was not he who shared Mystic's emotions, but the other way around. 

Being closer to the enemy, Devon could feel hate even more strong than anything he had known before. 

Naturally, he asked himself the same questions as Mystic. 

'Since he has my feature, I guess he knows things that no one knows about me in this world. But why is he looking at me like his sworn enemy?' 

However, this entity's bloodthirsty only lasted for a short while before it oppressed it with a wicked smile.

He pointed at Mystic.

"You, take care of this man and his minions, alone." His words and the way he said them sounded like orders.

For Mystic, it was too much.

Not just her, whether it was Elaydja or Devon, everyone found his action arrogant and incredulous.

At least, until the two examiners showed up out of nowhere.

At their appearance, everyone frowned, except for the man!

Unlike the others, the vexation in his eyes was so obvious that he gave the impression of not wanting to hide it.

'Tsk, just when it starts to get fun.' He growled, out of irritation.

At the sight of them, Mystic's heart skipped a beat.

Why so soon? Wasn't the trial supposed to last twenty-four hours at least?

More importantly, there were only supposed to be two survivors; the ones with the highest points.

'Fuck! It's over!' Mystic growled, feeling the worst coming.

Out of the three remaining, she was the one with the least points.

In other words, if one was to be eliminated, it would be her!

However, as she was about to prepare herself to fight for her life's sake, at least try to survive by giving everything she had, the examiners ignored her and approached the man before bowing to him.

"Esteemed lord Gray." They said together in a tone imbued with respect as they saluted him.

At this mention, the brown-haired man smiled ironically towards them.

"Raise your heads, guardians." He ordered, in an arrogant tone but one that suited him better than the other.

Afterward, he freed Devon from his restraint, letting him land on his legs.

With a kind but dangerous smile, he taps his shoulder before walking towards the two examiners.

Once a meter of them, he looks at Mystic and the last candidate, Elaydja.

"Congratulations to you both for surviving so far. You are, without a doubt, the best among the batches." 

"..."

"..."

Mystic could see the same confusion she had in the eyes of the last survivor. 

That helped her to be reassured in a way.

'So, all along, he was playing a role that wasn't assigned to him. No wonder he didn't receive any grimoire. How annoying.' She said in exasperation.

*Be on your guard, Mystic. This asshole can read our minds like an open book.*

Mystic's pupils trembled in surprise, not because she heard Devon's voice in her mind, but because of his revelations.

The man's vicious smile only confirmed Devon's assertions.

Besides, the mysterious guy started talking, explaining to both of them what happened next.

"As the last two survivors, you are now allowed to return home." He briefly explained.

"...??" 

While Mystic's gaze filled with confusion and doubt, Elaydja seemed to be taken by another concern. 

A greater one than his desire for revenge.

"Wait, is that all?" He asked, annoyed by what he saw happening.

At his question, the two examiners were not angry with him. 

No, they were confused too, by the words spoken by their leader.

One approached him from behind and whispered in his ear. 

"My Lord Zaleph, this is not what was agreed by the monarch; would you dare ignore his instructions?" 

Despite his low mumbles, everyone could clearly hear him, especially Devon who was closer.

'The monarch? Is he referring to the same monarch as my system? The monarch of death? Who's that guy?'

He didn't think about it any further, although it was starting to worry him in a particular way.

The beast or entity, whose name was just spoken by one of the examiners, had a dark look after hearing this warning.

All this only made Mystic more perplexed.

'What is this feeling? What exactly are they? More importantly, what do they want?'

Remembering Zaleph's evil intentions, Mystic couldn't help but ask herself all kinds of unanswered questions.

This test was obviously the last one. Yet, this strange guy wanted to impose another one on them just to kill her.

According to the examiner's warning, he is the one who wants to break their rules by making them fight against the beasts she was seeing for the very first time.

Yet, just as things seemed to get worse, all the strange pressure that emanated from Zaleph suddenly flew away, like a passing shower.

The next second, his shadow flickers under his feet, revealing two books Mystic had never seen before.

'Shadow control.' Devon whispered, looking tense. 

However, 

'A black and red grimoire? No, I'd bet that they are skill books.' 

He gave the black one to Mystic, and the red one to Elaydja. 

Reading the immense joy in Elaydja's eyes after retrieving the book, Mystic could tell that the book was important, but how far? 

She didn't have the answer to that question yet. 

'You two, lead them out.' The next moment, without giving any explanation, Zaleph ordered the two examiners. 

But before they leave, Elaydja stares at Mystic. "My name is Elaydja, Elaydja Blood Crown." 

"..." 

At Mystic's silence and frown, he continued. "Do me a favor and survive until our next meeting." 

"...Why?" 

"I would like to kill you with my own hands." 

"...Mystic Forett Shadow."

"Kekek..." 

After that little laugh, Elaydja followed his escort, i.e., the first examiner.

For him to abandon his animosity for later, he must hold on to his life.

The first three commandments were still valid for them as long as they were still on the scene.

Mystic doesn't seem to be the only one who understands this fact.

Just as she was about to tell Devon to leave with her, she frowned, seeing him and Zalelph staring at each other.

'Do they communicate too?' She wonders about it, well knowing that both can communicate through telepathy.

"Come on, let's go." Despite her doubts, she hurried Devon along.

She could still perceive the vicious smile on the lips of this mysterious entity as she dragged Devon along with her while hurrying to catch up with their escort.