***
"Hey... Uhhh... hmm, there's just no way, right?"
"Right?"
"Tell !"
Ignatius constantly shook Isidore's throne, but no matter what, the man didn't even spare a glance at him.
Isidore's gaze remained locked on the live feed.
A hologram atop a circular table showed that Emir was asleep, his body face down on the ground.
"I don't know."
His reply finally ca.
And it appeared that he too was stumped, never mind those lower than him in the CER.
Auric and Eldritch.
They, who didn't put much of their interest in Emir, were now staring at the holoscreen with mouths agape.
"You're sure it's working, right?"
Eldritch scoffed at Auric's question.
"You think they'd ss up? No, of course, it works... this guy is just a..."
"Monster."
Auric let out a chuckle.
"Would you still say that he's not going to join the rankings?"
Eldritch shook his head.
"No... if he cos out sane, then..."
The man didn't need to finish his sentence, as everyone in the room understood the unsaid.
Tsk!
"Yall are fags or what? He just lasted fifty thousand years in there; what's the big deal?"
Ignatius nudged Isidore's shoulder.
"You jealous that he just beat your record?"
The Ebonfyre's head eyed the fiery man for a mont, then his eyes returned to the hologram.
"It doesn't matter; I can now go for a hundred tis that easily."
"That's unfair, and you know it... Besides, he's still going."
"...True, I guess he's an Order's chosen for a reason."
While Ignatius and Isidore had their not-so-private talk, Eldritch and Auric had one of their own.
They had an isolating barrier up, however.
"Rember what Klein said back then?"
Auric nodded.
"Well, that's an understatent and a half."
"Right, but so what? It doesn't change things."
Eldritch shook his head.
"No, it does... Rember, we can't harm him, but who says that he can't harm us?"
Auric eyed Eldritch like he would a fool.
"The binding contract would? Is your brain rotting already-"
"Get serious!"
"...I am. You're not."
Eldritch sighed.
"Listen money bags... Did it never cross your mind that the boy could hold cards we don't know of?"
"Maybe he's got an ability that could disregard the contract."
Auric's gaze showed pity.
"Yeah, your brain is already rotting."
"But think about it!"
Their conversation paused for a mont, until Auric said:
"...Okay, I thought about it, and the conclusion was still no; he doesn't have such an ability."
"Why though?"
"Stop being paranoid! You seem to be forgetting that the Oracle exists..."
"An epito of neutrality. Do you really think he would allow such an ability if it existed?!"
The Oracle did, in fact, allow that.
But neither of these n would expect such a thing.
That the one and only 'Rule Keeper' of the cosmos would go against its essence for a man such
as Emir.
A Prince of The Sands.
Of The Fallen.
Eldritch looked down for a mont.
"...I guess you're right."
He then glanced towards the tir near the hologram.
It showed that fifty-one thousand seconds had passed.
"Even if he's that monstrous... the world wouldn't bend its rules to favor him, now would it?"
"No, it wouldn't."
Oh, how sorely mistaken those n were.
the world truly didn' or Emir as it did Arthur, the man was of a powerful lineage.
A clan once favored by the Oracle.
It seed as if all his past bad luck had led up to that one mont...
A mont where both his demise and status were revealed.
...
Ti passed, and hours went by.
The four Lords kept watching the show.
Even being the old monsters that they were, their focus on Emir didn't wane.
The prince was closing in on the hundred thousand mark.
He was nearing a record, one that had held its place since the invention of this test.
The academy's principal.
The second-strongest man on Earth.
Amon.
Emir was about to break his record.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
The clock kept on going.
Emir hadn't 'died' yet.
He was still 'alive.'
Tick-
{99,999.5...}
The tir had stopped...
{100,000}
And the record was broken.
Excited shivers ran through the n in the room.
A fellow monster was born today.
What Isidore said so ti ago was correct.
The current him would easily sail past a million years.
But, back then... when he was but a Seraphim, this feat that Emir had crossed...
It was sothing he imagined impossible.
His pressure, unknowingly, began to flood the room.
Unlike before, it instantly snapped everyone to the ground.
"This guy..."
"We have to get on our side."
"We must."
"The UEF's survival rests on his shoulders."
And just as quickly as the pressure ca... it left.
Those who were in their slumber woke up right after.
"Chill out, man; my neck hurts 'cause of you."
Isidore ignored Ignatius's complaints and willed the holoscreen to add a different feed.
"You guys think he'll be schizo after this?"
The hologram now showed a sleeping Ragnar.
"Even if he is, we could just extract those mories, and he'll be as good as new."
Auric comnted while shrugging his shoulders.
"And you were calling an idiot."
"Haa?!"
Eldritch sparked their argunt once again.
"Yes, you're one stupid fellow. Your only purpose is money; it's quite... sad."
"...What brought this all of a sudden?"
Auric disengaged as he noticed that Isidore was starting to get irritated.
"Well, the mind isn't as simple as that. Even with those mories deleted, the boy will still
experience many signs of schizophrenia."
"And those are?" "Let's see... He'd lack motivation, EQ, and he'd see constant hallucinations... his ability to talk
might also be affected."
There were others as well, but Eldritch was too lazy to list them out.
Auric sighed and looked back at the holoscreen.
"Is he showing those signs?"
Emir, who was now awake, stared at the dark ceiling above.
His body didn't move.
The man didn't blink, either.
His dark eyes bore into the drone's cara.
Or rather, they looked for those behind it.
It was as if they were staring at those watching.
Emir then closed his eyes.
After a mont, his lips parted to mouth two words:
"...Watch ."
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