More than one hour had passed, and the silence in the arena had become deafening. Hope was fading—until a sudden flash broke the air.
"WOAH!"
The crowd in the arena was astonished to see Erus materialize on the 100th floor. They did not expect to see him there and had no idea what had happened after the Unseen swallowed him. At first, they thought he was dead because he was lying there unconscious.
"Where did he come from?" Akiro asked.
"Is the Captain okay?" Glecy asked, afraid that their leader was dead since he was not moving.
On the other hand, the Elders were dubious about seeing Erus on the 100th floor. They did not know how he had made it there. They wondered if he had used some trickery to fool them.
Meanwhile, Nick was furrowing his brows while analyzing the situation. In his mind, he was ready to bring hell to the ground if matters got out of hand. Fortunately, Erus moved.
Erus unconsciously touched his forehead when he woke up. He could feel a soft and warm sensation there, but the metal plate of his golden dragon mask blocked his hand from touching his skin. He had a feeling that someone had kissed his forehead, but how would that be possible with his mask on?
Was that a dream?
He was about to dive into his deep thoughts when a brown leaf flew and landed on top of his mask. At first, he was baffled by it because in his mind, he was in his room. But then, he soon realized that he was staring at the sky and not the ceiling of his room. He immediately rose and looked around like a lost kid.
"Where the hell am I? Wasn't I in the Aby...ss?"
He remembered the mermaids of death and the Queen he had faced.
Did he just die that fast?
He stood up, then scrutinized himself. He looked okay. No scratches, no wounds—he was not even tired in the slightest.
Or did he succeed in contracting with the God of Death? But he had no mark as proof of success.
His mind was in a daze until his eyes landed on the stone tower with the carvings of 100th. This was the 100th floor, and now he had no idea how he had gotten there.
"I forbid it!"
He was about to take a step forward when those familiar words rang in his mind. Along with the voice, he saw a snapshot of a faint light—a surge of disruptive energy that had scattered through the Abyss and erased everything in its path, including the Mermaid Queen.
Someone had definitely helped him in the Abyss and it couldn't be the God of Death himself. There was no way that god would annihilate his own citizens for him. Plus, the power he remembered didn't resemble darkness at all.
The odd thing was he remembered every detail of the battle except for that one savior. He massaged his temple as his head ached from trying to push his luck with the memory. Then he smiled. It was crazy, but he liked knowing his memories of this person were purposely erased.
Someone must be playing tag with me, he thought.
He dismissed the mystery for now and got back to his senses. His eyes landed on a shiny box on the ground near the stone tower. It looked like the prize for conquering the 100th floor of the trial, yet he was confused.
"What about the trial on this floor?" he murmured.
There was nothing here for him to fight. It was just a natural forest that looked completely sanctified.
When he reached for the box and opened it, he saw a silver glimmering sword with a golden handle. In the center of the handle was the kingdom's crest. This was the Northland kingdom's holy sword that everyone had been admiring and desiring.
Erus sighed. He was disappointed. To him, the holy sword was just a mere child's toy. But he still took it to formally end the trial.
Once he held the sword, the gate leading outside the dungeon opened. It brought no excitement to him, which was the opposite of what he expected to feel before reaching the 100th floor. He didn't even mind the idea of having to work in the palace. Every prize promised for conquering the Abyss was nothing to him now. He had lost his interest in those promised things but did not feel empty.
In fact, he felt refreshed after waking up on this floor.
A blinding light greeted Erus upon stepping into the center of the arena after teleporting from the dungeon. He narrowed his eyes to adjust to the surroundings while he heard the sound of the crowd, a mixture of excitement and confused reactions.
Maybe they thought it was his ghost standing before them.
Kyla had to be reminded by her grandfather about her task when she unconsciously stared at the newcomer like he was a stranger to her. Erus looked like a different person for some reason, or was it just her being so into him because he won the entire trial?
She composed herself.
"And now, let's all welcome the winner and conqueror of the 150th Knighthood Trial, none other than—MR. ERUSIEL NIKOLAS ATHANASIOS!" She shouted his name like it was her last. She had been aching to cheer for him during the trial, but it went against the rules for the spokesperson of the event. This was her way of telling everyone that this man was their team leader and her bias.
The crowd roared with mixed emotions. Many were not happy to see the monster they feared ascending and likely grabbing the throne. Other people, like Erus' team and their clan leader Nick, were very happy. They were shouting like crazy as if they were the ones who conquered the 100th floor.
Kyla was jumping and clapping like a kid while waving at Erus as he went up to the platform. She was glad to see him safe but controlled herself from hugging him. She was aware of his aloofness with women.
"Congratulations, Captain!" she greeted him.
"Thanks," Erus answered with a sigh.
Kyla became hesitant seeing Erus was not happy about his win. She stayed silent waiting for him to give an instruction. Then she was surprised when Erus stretched out his hand, trying to hand her the thing he got from the 100th floor.
Kyla was confused by his actions.
"Captain, that's the holy sword. What do I do with it?"
Was he asking her to keep it for him?
Erus was never an easy person to read. His random actions didn't mean anything most of the time, so they treated them as his way of expressing himself differently.
"Mark it."
"Ha?" She was startled and wanted to hear him say it again. She might be hearing things because of her own feelings for him.
"Mark it now before they steal it from you," Erus told her clearly.
Seriously?
"But—"
Erus gave her a serious look.
"This is the holy sword. Your prize?"
She was hesitant to do what he told her. It wasn't a plaything or a souvenir. It was one of the Northland Kingdom's symbols. She knew that Erus cared a lot for their kingdom despite the hatred he got from its people. Their group knew it even if he didn't show it the normal way. So why give away what was supposed to be important to him?
Does he like me now? And is this his way of proposing to me?
"You don't want it? Should I just give it to the other members?"
"Ah, yes—No! Of course not. I want it." She flashed a confused smile while receiving the sword. She was hallucinating again.
"Better. Mark it now. I don't want our party to be targeted by some thief."
"Right here?"
Everyone was watching and they might think other wild things about this gesture from Erus.
The Elders were too confused about what Erus and Kyla were doing. They could not hear them talking, so they just watched their actions. But Kyla's grandfather could guess what was happening. When she looked over at him, he slightly nodded. He understood that even if Erus kept the sword, the fact of being hated by everyone would not change. He would not look like a hero to those fools but they would see a monster with a weapon too powerful for his own good.
This action from Erus proved how genius and smart he was in the eyes of Kyla's grandfather. To him, Erus knew how to play the game of life. By handing the sword to Kyla, Erus wasn't just being generous. He was shifting the weight of the crown onto someone the kingdom actually trusted.
And he was right about this young lad.
Erus was letting her mark the prize so the thieves and political enemies would have to go through Kyla and her clan first. Erus was essentially washing his hands of the drama while keeping the power within his inner circle. But he didn't mean to let his members be targeted by harm. Those attention seekers would have to go through him first before they could lay a finger on any member of the Grand Abyss party.
Kyla sighed to release the tension. This was no ordinary task. The public was watching them, including the Elders and the King. What would they think of this move from Erus?
Why do I even care about them? I'm receiving the most precious gift right now, Kyla scolded herself.
"Thank you. You're the best, Captain." She smiled at him brightly. "Here I go."
With a quick gesture, she made the sheathed sword float at her eye level.
The crowd, too far away to hear the conversation, became confused about what was happening on the balcony. They thought Erus was just presenting his prize, but then they saw the familiar gesture for marking ownership that Kyla was doing now.
Why was the girl marking the supposed prize of the trial's winner?
Kyla chanted the ownership rite before drawing blood from a tiny prick on her finger using her own katana. The sword absorbed her blood, a sign that it accepted the master.
"What an insolence!" an Elder shouted after the ritual was done. He was about to perform his dramatic interrogation but was stopped in his tracks when he met the gaze of Erus' crimson eyes.
While King Leomar was roughly scraping the armrest of his chair. He couldn't maintain his royal composure despite the disrespect he was witnessing from Erus. The prize that was the pride of the kingdom and dreamed of by many was just casually given to someone else.
Is this part of his plan? And where did that woman go? Why isn't she reporting to me yet? It's all her fault this bastard is still breathing! What the hell did she just do?
His knuckles were white while his fingernails dug deep into the material of the armrest. His mind was full of negative thoughts but it never crossed his mind that Erus had defeated his most powerful familiar.
On the other hand, Erus had been sensing that killing aura from the King ever since he stepped out of the dungeon after the trial. He expected this reaction and the decision to give away the holy sword gave him a satisfaction he never had before.
Erus was grinning while he gave a side glance to the King. He had no plan of facing him or performing the courtesy expected of a winner. What was the use of paying respect to someone who almost killed him today?
Even the other Elders who were about to reprimand his actions stayed quiet while waiting for the King to act. But they only became more wary because the King was not doing anything.
"Captain, are you okay? I'm willing to give back the holy sword if you changed your mind." Kyla became agitated when she felt a sudden familiar chill. Her instincts were proven right when she looked at Erus and noticed the devilish look he only gave to his enemies.
Was he just testing her and did not really intend to give her the sword?
"It's yours. That is your reward for being a good emcee."
Setting aside the devilish look she just witnessed, Kyla badly wanted to scream. She was in total kilig upon hearing him praise her. This was too rare for Erus to do.
Then, Erus stepped down from the balcony, passing the center of the arena and heading to the exit door like it was just one of his casual walks. When he was out of the arena, the other contestants still in the dungeon were teleported back. Some were wounded and others did not make it back.