"What... is that...?" a mage whispered.
"Impossible..." another murmured.
"Is that really — no, no. It can’t be."
Every eye in the arena widened.
No one had expected what they saw.
There was only one among the many who remained calm in the situation, smiling mischievously.
"I knew it." Magister Dango nodded, satisfied.
...
The magical sentries hovered in the perfect circle, each radiating a distinct aura that made the atmosphere so intense for a living being.
"Fire..."
The first Sentry glowed with crimson flas, flickering and pouring heat that could burn through stone steadily around it.
"Water..."
The second birthed shimring azure liquid, which constantly shifted and curled as if it were a fragnt of the ocean with consciousness.
"Air..."
The third sentry swirled with silver wind, a spinning vortex of cutting air currents that howled like a trapped storm.
"Earth..."
A fourth pulsed with deep green earth, jagged stones mixed in the earth-fluid as if drawn by a certain magnetic line of force.
"Lightning..."
The fifth crackled with pale lightning around its edges, forming arcs of electric energy jumping across its surface at intervals.
"Darkness..."
The sixth sentry bled shadow — a void black essence that seed to devour any light around it.
"And finally, arcane..."
The seventh, which glimred with an unpredictable swirl of colors and magic, was constantly shifting in a compass direction.
As contrasting as the elental sentries were, they resonated together to be a very powerful entity initially owned and handled by a strong mage — the demon Master.
"The Seven Elental Sentries? Hmm," I humd, clearly rembering I had read about it in a book.
It was an artifact that had been designed by the demon Master, which, according to the book, was brought back after my father had an encounter with the demon.
It was also assud that the seizure of this artifact was what had caused the disappearance of the demon Master, since everyone believed it had extinguished a lot of its power for the very purpose of producing such an elental construct.
"So, why are they imposing it on as my test material?" I asked, trying to understand the situation.
From what I know, the Emperor had placed an order for these sentries to be locked out. Out of the sight of normal eyes.
’The Emperor?’
Now that I really thought about it, this was a trap they had set for .
I might be a threat of Doom, but in their actual minds, I am the proposed demon Master that disappeared. Maybe a reincarnation or sothing.
They had laid this trap to either solidify their claims or doubt them.
It was the easiest thod for them to put into action, that thing which had been their plan ever since.
Judging by this speculation, there are two things involved.
It is either that the Sentries embraced my presence as their sole owner or lashed violently against as a stranger.
Whichever was the case, both can still lead to my death.
"I don’t bla them. Their hopes are high on the first possibility, probably waiting for the ti so that I can be captured and killed," I muttered, still holding tight onto my sword.
At least, there’s a slight possibility that I can defend myself if the Sentries begin to attack.
The Seven Elental Sentries were designed based on a static strategic formation. They surround the candidate to restrict movent, making it possible for only a dodge, a counter or a manipulative attack.
’The Emperor, or whosoever plotted this snare, has high killing intent,’ I mused and turned around to observe each sentry.
Just then, they unleashed their innate powers.
Each of their elental symbols flushed out into ribbon streaks of their colors, shooting outward to converge directly above .
Then, from their convergence, mirror-like mana cases spread out from the streaks, encasing the circle formation from top to bottom.
I raised my left hand and moved it with my palm facing to verify what I thought.
My hand reached a certain point upwards, and couldn’t pass through.
The sentries had ford a barrier to make sure there was no ans of my escape; instead of the expected reaction, the crowd outside had expected.
A soothing, calm feeling surged through , assuming their thoughts about being a reincarnation of the demon Master were cleared. Although, I wasn’t entirely sure they would stop perceiving as a threat of Doom.
As I tried to remain calm, my instincts kicked in to remind of the situation I was in.
Even if there was a choice for those outside to combine forces and save since I was not what they presud, it wasn’t a possibility, considering the formalities of the trial.
My survival solely depended on .
"Okay, I’ve got this," I encouraged myself, holding my sword out in a stance.
"OH DEAR, WELCO TO THE SNARE OF A DEMON!"
My hands let loose imdiately I heard the resonating voice from the sentries. They echoed uniformly combined, as if the sentries forrly possessed singular voices.
"SORRY I TOOK THE SLIGHTEST OPPORTUNITY TO STARTLE MY GUEST ON ARRIVAL. ACCEPT MY DEEPEST CONDOLENCES!"
"Uhm... I think you an to say ’Accept my deepest apologies’," I corrected.
Feeling safer, I let the sword in my hand vanish and stood upright.
After waiting for half a minute with no other response, except the consistent crackling of mixed elental energies across the barrier, I spoke up.
"Don’t you think you should compensate for your reaction earlier. I an, any normal mage could have passed out," I said, demonstrating what I ant with my hands.
"Let’s just call it a ’reward for the strong’ for being able to keep up with the intensity of your energies."
Another silence.
"Oh, seems like you aren’t in support of anything. Maybe we can play a ga then..." I suggested.
Although it was not exactly a good idea to indulge in such a conversation with the artifact, I wanted to buy myself so ti until I figured a way out.
Surprisingly, it had offered my last suggestion.
"YES. LET US PLAY A GA!"
It was I who suggested this idea, but my heart froze when the artifact spoke.
So of the things I knew about demons were already being unfolded before by this artifact.
A real demon won’t act against its opponent with brute force, but with what it knows, sees, or even hears. Literally, the power of a demon of this kind relies on making the victim do the destructive work themselves.
"Not disappointing for sothing that was designed by a Demon Master itself," I acknowledged.
’Is it trying to use my decision against ?’ I thought at the sa ti.
A demon’s offer usually appears helpful, compassionate, or even rewarding, as the case may be.
But the catch is always hidden.
They understand desires better than their victims do, and they use that understanding to bait them.
"Hmm, you really know what I want. I see," I murmured, assuming the demonic artifact already saw through my intentions.
"Yes. I am ready when you are!" I said, loud enough to be heard.
The mont those words left my lips, the entire barrier trembled.
Not cracked, they trembled.
"THEN, WE SHALL BEGIN..."
The voice vibrated through my bones.
Before I could react, the interior of the barrier twisted.
Reality folded inward like a cloth caught by an invisible hand. My feet lost their grounding. My breath scattered.
Sothing hooked my consciousness and pulled.
And then—
Silence.
A silence that was so loud it felt like it was pressing against my eardrums.
I opened my eyes, and behold—
At first glance, it looked like a dreamscape created by a child who had never seen the natural world and was asked to recreate it from mory.
More like a mockery of reality.
I stood on what resembled land, but wasn’t.
The "ground" beneath my boots was a floating mosaic of seven different slabs pulsing with different colors: red stone, blue crystal, silver dust, green soil, violet glass, black shale and a translucent arcane tile shifting hues at a second’s interval.
They hung suspended in an endless void.
Above , the "sky" was upside-down, more like an ocean of swirling elents.
Clouds of thick flas drifted like lazy fireflies.
Tides of water curled upward, defying the laws of gravity.
Lightning stitched continually across the horizon.
Wind danced in the form of ribbons between floating islands of earth, and in the center of everything, a massive dark sphere hovered, absorbing all surrounding light but never dimming the place.
This playground was only that which a demon could call leisure.
"Like, where the f**k is this?"
"A SPACE OF REPOSE... FOR THE MASTER WHO CREATED US. IT’S ENTICING, ISN’T IT?"
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.
Of course, the demon Master would design sothing like this. A sanctuary that looked like rest but felt like a coffin waiting for its occupant.
Scanning the area once more and bracing myself, I asked. "What’s the ga?"
The seven sentries appeared around again, but now they hovered like orbiting stars. Each glowed brighter here, as if this place amplified them.
"THE GA IS SIMPLE," the voice bood.
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