Before anyone could speak further, a voice echoed inside Kaal’s mind, ancient, emotionless, and chanical:
"Player has passed the First Trial. Ti to clear: One week. Evaluating performance... Grade: S. Heaven-Rank Genius detected."
"Error: Designated reward unavailable. Allocating alternative reward... Healing all injuries."
In a flash of divine energy, the pain in Kaal’s body vanished. His bones shifted, healed. Torn skin restored itself.
He stood there, panting, shocked.
"Player...?" he muttered.
He stared at the obsidian monolith.
"That term... It’s not from this world. I’ve only read that in Raven’s mories... on the Blue Planet."
He turned toward the temple, his voice was low
"Founder... What are you?"
The brilliant pillar of light slowly faded, leaving behind a stunned silence in the grove.
Kaal stood before the Stone of Will, his palm still glowing faintly. His breath was heavy, but the pain that once wracked his body had vanished.
He blinked.
His wounds are gone. The blood-caked bandages, the cracked bones, the bruises he had earned in the week-long trial... even the lingering injuries from his brutal duel with Kevin Haze, all of them had vanished without a trace.
’ It’s like I was never injured at all... ’
He clenched his fists experintally. Strength surged through his veins, pure and unburdened. The fatigue that had dragged his limbs down, the ache that had lived in his bones, nothing remained.
Kaal’s eyes widened slightly in amazent.
’ What kind of reward is this? To erase pain like it never existed... This is more than healing, it’s restoration. ’
Then he heard it, an excited voice slicing through his daze.
"Young Master, you did it!" Mia’s voice rang with pure joy as she dashed toward him, her eyes wide and bright like twin stars.
Jane followed a heartbeat later, her smile quiet and warm."I believed in you," she said softly, pride lighting up her face.
Kaal turned to face them both. His chest felt tight, not with pain, but with sothing deeper. Gratitude. Bond.
"Jane... Mia..." he said, his voice a little rough. "Thank you. If you hadn’t taken care of every day, every night, this would’ve been impossible."
He glanced once more at the Stone of Will, then at his own unblemished hands.
’ To think even the scars from my fight with Kevin Haze are gone... This trial, this inheritance, what kind of power does it truly hold?
Then his gaze shifted.
Ashen stood at the edge of the grove, his expression unreadable.
’ He passed this trial too... and that voice ’Player has passed the First Trial... that term... It’s not of this world. Ashen must know sothing. It’s ti I find out what. ’
Kaal’s eyes narrowed with growing curiosity.
Shortly after, Ashen and Divya ca together.
Ashen walked toward Kaal with a asured pace, his expression composed, even warm, but his thoughts were anything but calm.
’ He actually passed... A novel first arc villain like him. He is really becoming more powerful... ’
He had trained, plotted, and bent fate to survive in this world, yet Kaal, the minor villain the tragic piece ant to fall in the background of a protagonist’s rise, had done what even Ashen once thought impossible.
’ If I let him live, will he beco a threat later? No... he already is. ’
But none of that reached his face. Ashen smiled as he approached, every inch the helpful companion.
Divya walked beside him, her robe damp and clinging to her from her waterfall training. Beads of water still dripped from her long, blue hair, her skin glowing under the light of the trial’s aftermath. She had sensed the shift in the trial realm the mont the light had burst forth from the stone, ending her ditation prematurely.
"I was in the middle of training when I saw that light," Divya said with a proud smile. "Looks like soone made the heavens take notice."
Kaal, still standing near the stone, didn’t return her smile. His eyes flicked to Ashen instead, sharp and unreadable.
Ashen t his gaze calmly, the smile never leaving his face.
"Congratulations, Kaal," Ashen said smoothly. "You passed the first trial. That’s no small feat."
Divya added, "Seriously. Even I couldn’t leave a mark on the stone yet. Can you share how you managed to do it?"
But Kaal didn’t even glance at her.
Instead, his cold, piercing gaze locked onto Ashen.
"Are you hiding sothing from ?" he asked, his tone sharp as a blade drawn in silence.
Ashen blinked in surprise, clearly taken aback. "I... I didn’t hide anything," he replied, his face showing only confusion and honest shock.
Kaal studied him for a long mont. Ashen’s eyes didn’t waver. His posture didn’t betray a lie.
Still, Kaal wasn’t satisfied. He decided to test the waters.
"When I passed the first trial," Kaal said slowly, "a voice echoed in my mind. Cold. Ancient. It said I had cleared the trial, that my performance was evaluated. It gave a talent grade... an S-rank. Categorised as a Heaven-grade genius."
He paused.
Then narrowed his eyes.
"None of this," he said, voice like ice, "was ever ntioned by you, Ashen."
He deliberately avoided any ntion of the word Player. His instincts, enhanced by the Myriads of Thousand Demon Body, were screaming at him. Warning him. Any ntion of that term... would put him in danger.
Across from him, Ashen’s brows furrowed. His lips parted slightly. And for the first ti, it was Ashen who looked shocked.
"I didn’t hear anything like that," Ashen said earnestly. "No voice, no evaluation. I’m telling you the truth, I don’t know what grade of talent you’re talking about."
Kaal’s eyes narrowed further, still suspicious.
Sensing the tension building like a taut bowstring, Divya stepped in between them.
"Kaal," Divya said gently, stepping between the tense exchange, "if Ashen says he doesn’t know anything about this... maybe he’s telling the truth. Let’s calm down. When I clear this trial myself, the truth will reveal itself."
Her voice was calm, but her presence alone spoke volus.
"In the past week, Ashen has helped a lot," Divya said, looking toward Kaal. "He built a shelter for us near the waterfall... even shared food he cooked himself. I’ve co to know him. I don’t think he’s lying."
Her voice was steady, but not dismissive. Just reasoned.
Kaal’s gaze lingered on Ashen for a long mont. His mind was still clouded with suspicion, but Divya’s words echoed in his ears. And more than that, her logic made sense.
He finally let out a breath. "Alright... You have a point."
He turned to her, his tone calr now. "The hint you asked for... It’s hidden in the na. Stone of Will. That’s the clue."
Divya raised an eyebrow, listening intently.
Kaal continued, "This trial doesn’t care about strength or bloodlines. It tests your will, your resolve, your ambition. You must think of sothing you value more than your own life. If that determination is real... the stone will accept it."
Having said what he needed, Kaal gave a short nod and turned away without waiting for a response.
Jane and Mia silently followed behind him, the two girls moving in quiet synchronisation as they always did.
As they passed by Divya, Jane paused briefly and offered a respectful bow. "Apologies for the young master’s tone earlier," she said softly. "He... hasn’t been himself lately."
Divya offered a faint smile. "It’s alright. I understand his nature. And I respect it."
Ashen remained quiet, watching Kaal’s retreating figure with unreadable eyes, then turned to Divya.
"And thank you. for believing that I did not lie." Ashen was grateful, but his gaze drifted to Kaal’s retreating figure. His mind churned.
’ This voice thing didn’t happen in the novel, he thought. In "Rise of the Demon Emperor," Raven used the bull-marked pendant to unlock this place. I did the sa. But this ti... we opened the inheritance with Kaal blood.
He’s a direct descendant of the Kilvish Clan Founder... That’s why there is a change that did not happen in the novel; that’s why Kaal heard that voice evaluating him. The inheritance responded differently. ’
An involuntary surge of emotion rose within Ashen envy, and buried beneath it, sothing darker.
His killing intent slipped. For a mont, the shadows around him thickened, pulsed.
Far ahead, Kaal suddenly stopped mid-step.
Though his back was turned, his Mind Eye had flared the instant Ashen’s bloodlust appeared, no matter how faint.
He stood still for a breath.
Then continued walking, as if nothing had happened. But under his breath, his voice was a quiet murmur:
"So... you want to kill , too. What a coincidence."
"I was thinking the sa thing about you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)