Chapter 20: The Trial of Warth
Kyriaki opened her dazzling golden eyes to be greeted by a pitch black world.
She calmly turned her head around, looking for anything that could be identified as an object.
Alas, she found nothing but endless darkness.
Not the kind that was warm and comfortable like inside the dragon egg, but the kind that was cold and eerie, that sparked anxiety in one's mind.
It was as if she was trapped inside the jet-black Whip-sword by an unseen force.
That was a good enough reason for most people to panic. But not Kyriaki. She wasn't the type to panic over something so trivial as darkness.
Instead, she carefully checked the current condition. A temperature of 0°C that an ordinary human finds extremely cold and concerning was present there. Except for the cool temperature, everything else seemed to have vanished.
No wind.
No light.
No scent nor were there any objects to touch or see.
it was as if half of her sensations had been cut off.
Kyriaki calmly stared ahead without uttering a word, as if she was waiting for someone. The way she stood still was so relaxing it looked like she was standing on the corner of a boring banquet hall, observing all the drama of nobles with nothing but apathy.
Time passed. Kyriaki waited. Since she was counting in her head while also observing the situation, she knew how much time passed.
After a long yet short hour, she finally found a subtle difference in her environment.
The temperature that was on the 0°C set mark had risen up to 0.2°C. It was very subtle.
But for a dragon, especially when they are secretly scrupulous, acute and intuitive, that kind of change was very quick to notice.
Kyriaki kept her mind clock working as she turned a tiny part of her attention to the thermometer in her mind using her skill;
'0.5°C'
'1°C'
'2°C'
'4°C'
'6°C'
'8.4°C'
'13°C'
'19°C'
'27°C'
'48.1°C'
'75°C'
'Oh my, they're fast.'
'109°C'
'150°C'
'224°C'
'350.5°C'
'570°C'
'Hmmm, maybe they're impatient?' Kyriaki giggled inwardly, continuously counting inside her head.
'865°C'
'1200°C'
'1550°C'
'Wow, it just surpassed the record of Basaltic lava temperature!'
'2000°C'
'4500°C'
'8000°C'
'Now it's well past my human knowledge. The temperature at the center of earth was around 6000°C in my previous world. I have to rely on the dragon's intuition from now on, I guess.'
'10,100°C'
'13,500°C'
'16,700°C'
'Wow, isn't this enough to melt Cosmic Steels?'
'19,000°C'
'24,000°C'
'28,500°C'
'30,000°C'
'Now it's enough to make the liquid form of Divine Diamonds.'
'40,000°C'
'50,000°C'
—Hmmm~ Hmmm~ Hmmm~—
After an hour and seven minutes, a rise of temperature of +49,996°C, Kyriaki finally set her eyes on the person she wanted.
—I came here running, thinking some foolish elf had sneaked into the Dragon Monarch's treasury and touched me without knowing, but what is this?—
Long blood red hair and mesmerizing ruby red eyes, curved goat horns of jet-black hue like the deepest pit of hell, flawless black skin gleaming with a faint glow…
Oh what a sight.
His almost naked upper body, sculptured like a god's masculine body was adorned with gold accessories and a decorative shawl. A red pattern, paired up with unique magic circles and spells of the Divine language of Death Goddess—now called "Demonic tongue"—was carved onto his chest like a beautiful painting.
A bewitching beauty, with a seductive voice.
But the madness and wrath in those mesmerizing ruby eyes were laid bare, as if he didn't care to hide his true feelings.
—A Dragon? A golden dragon hatchling? Disappointing! Why must I face a four legged crawling dirt of all people?! Did you filthy lizards forget my great contributions in war? God must be jesting…or is he testing?—
"Wow, what a beautiful poem, you have the potential to self-publish a poem collection under a pen name like 'lonely goatman that hides in the dark' or something. No, maybe audition for a DC movie as a supervillain?"
—H-huh?—
Kyriaki looked at the bewildered demons with indifference.
'I've seen this guy in the gifted memories of the last individual. Seeing him in person, his upper body is as beautiful as a dragon's, but…'
Kyriaki's eyes naturally turned to his lower body. Although it was covered in clothes, it was hard to conceal his unusual body shape and parts.
Yes, matching his horns, his lower body was that of a goat. His tiny tail was already sticking out to disgrace his beautiful upper body.
"Tsk… disappointing." Kyriaki mumbled coldly, not taking her eyes off of his lower body.
—WH-WHAT?! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU LOOKING?!—
'Got'ya'
Kyriaki wanted to smirk, but she held herself back, maintaining her cold face.
"Anyway…Why does it matter whether I'm an elf or not. You've consumed so many humans and dark elves who had accidentally touched you until now. Isn't it boring? They die so easily."
—Ugh! I hate it when someone changes the topic in the middle!!!— The demon; Ebrah, gritted his teeth in anger, his beautiful red eyebrows folding in a frown as his voice trembled.
'I know.' Kyriaki rolled her eyes, not voicing her inner thoughts.
"Oh, are you dissatisfied because you can't manipulate my mind like you did to your victims? Isn't that disappointing? A deadly sin can't even manipulate a 'filthy young lizard's mind. What a disgrace, Tsk Tsk."
—I hate it even more when they act like that pride brat—
'I already know~'
"Shut up and obey me. What's the point of all this sarcasm when you are just reduced to a sword?"
Now, Ebrah was trembling like an aspen tree with his head down. Kyriaki could see him biting down on his lower lip without a care about his surroundings.
She was amazed by this elementary school level argument as well. She didn't know she had the potential to troll people, just like an internet keyboard warrior back on earth.
—I resent those who dare to order me around without knowing the consequences—
'That too, I know everything there is to know about you. That's why…' Kyriaki watched him with her cold golden eyes glowing in darkness.
For a moment, the slit pupils appeared and disappeared without a trace. That scene, even in front of a great demon king, looked eerier than the demon himself.
"Stop your childish tantrum and send me out of here, we have so many things to do together once I'm outside."
Contrary to her earlier cold and scary demeanor, this time her tone was gentle. It was a swift mood shift, as if everything before was a lie.
—You insolent lizard…It seems you are as stupid as Sloth. You dare order me around when you have no idea of the rules set for this sword?—
"Ah, rules. Who cares about those? Am I some random Angel or something?"
—Hah!— For the first time, Ebrah's shoulders trembled for a reason other than anger. He lifted his face, covering his lips with one hand. —Bwahahahaha—
His laughter, as deep as an abyss, as eerie as an ocean right before strom, echoed in the empty space, resonating with darkness.
—The trial is…you must fight me to tame me. To make it fair, my strength will be reduced to match yours accurately. If you fail, I'll consume you. If you pass, I'll consume you slowly. Those are the rules—
"Ah, is that so?"
—You aren't afraid of fighting the great me?—
"Do I look afraid to you?"
—Are you that powerful at such a young age to be so confident-oh…—
Silence.
A silence far too dangerous speared through the empty space.
With each passing second the demon king's face visibly changed as if he just realized something he cannot accept at all. Kyriaki watched with a smile on her face as Ebrah's face was distorted with anger.
—You-you are a rank G- vermin?!— His beautiful voice, filled with disgust, denial and fury like no other reached Kyriaki.
"Yes~" She smiled more broadly.
It was a smile that resembled Endymion, but the vibe it gave off was very different from him.
The light in her eyes had dimmed significantly unlike before. She had the kind of aura that said she was a person who would not tolerate any worthless being in the world. Whereas Endymion's aura was usually that of a person who was haughty to others but gentle and kind to his loved ones.
—You…—
'Did I got you for good?' Kyriaki giggled out loud, like a true five year old.
Her soft giggles, like fresh honey to one's ear, looked out of place inside that endless darkness.
"Yeah? How does it feel like to be a G- rank vermin once again?"
—YOU DARE INSULT ME LIKE THIS?!—
"Gotcha…" Kyriaki sidestepped very naturally as Ebrah kicked the floor and flew towards her with boiling rage.
The sin Ebrah represented was Wrath. It was both his strength and weakness. While his wrath boosted his strength, in return it clouded his judgement.
"Now, now. Calm down, little red hood. You can't attack me first. Since the rules indicate that the challenger has the privilege of first strike."
When Kyriaki looked at him with a relaxed expression, Ebrah's ruby red eyes widened in shock.
—Ugh,h-how did you know?—
"That's a secret."
She brought her little index finger over her plumply rose hue lips and smiled softly. Ebrah's momentarily shock flattered, replaced by his rage once again. He looked at Kyriaki with resentment that was enough to curse seven generations.
How she knew, why she knew… those questions were answered inside her head. He'd have gotten his answer If only he could read her mind, that is.
'It was information I got from the whispers of time.'
She had unlocked 08% of Time's whispers after all.
'And my gifted memories helped me a lot.'
Kyriaki glanced at the silver-golden semi-transparent screen briefly before looking at Ebrah, who had tripped on his own legs.
"Shall we start now?" She clenched her tiny fist and walked towards him, all the while maintaining her gentle and polite smile.
Pow!
A loud sound echoed in the darkness. Kyriaki had kicked Ebrah on his stomach in the blink of an eye.
"I have always wondered…what's the difference between an average of B+ states and a normal person?"
Pow! Pow!!
"Wow…isn't this a total scam? How could one person start with G- in core rank as well as states while one person starts with way ahead in states just because they were born in a different race?"
Bam! Paw!
—AHHHHH!!!!—
"Life is so unfair, the world is so unfair, and the universe is also unfair…is what I'd say if I was born as the former. Haha…too bad I'm a dragon now."
Pow! Pow!! Pow!!! Slam!!!!
—ARGH! This-this can't be—
Pow!
"But the feeling of hitting a soul is just dull. I wish I could hit your real body…ops, my apologies, you don't have one anymore, do you?"
Kyriaki grabbed him by the neck and delivered a chain of punches on his face at the speed of a race car.
—We-we have the same states and core ranks…how-how could you be stronger than me?!—
At Ebrah's pleading yet still rage-filled voice, Kyriaki paused.
She observed his face, now bleeding black blood with so many bruises and wounds. Of course those were just illusions since a soul cannot bleed. The illusions were only there to show how much exhausted and defeated the soul has become.
She presented him with a knee strike to his jaw laughing like a true maniac.
"Poor Ebrah…" Her mocking tone, combined with her gentle and graceful facial expressions, seemed to utterly humiliate the demon king.
After getting killed and trapped inside the sword, most of his soul had been damaged beyond repair. And to top it up, with passing time his soul had crumbled into tiny particles and faded into oblivion.
Pow!
—I—
Paw!
—Cannot—
Slam!!
—Accept—
Slap!!!
—This!—
Bam!!!
—EVEN IF MY SOUL HAS CRUMBLED TO DUST, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO WIN A FIGHT WHEN GIVEN AN EQUAL STRENGTH!!! SO HOW??!!—
Ebrah exclaimed amidst all assaults coming right at him.
It was true. He was a demon king, and one of seven deadly sins, no less. The knowledge he gained while living as a high demon, the sly and violent nature he gained by birth, everything all together he was a tricky opponent to beat even if one was fighting him on equal footing.
And as of now, he was more than a million years old, the knowledge he gained while residing in the sword was also added to those qualities.
But he was getting beaten up by a dragon hatchling who was barely one century old.
It was ridiculous.
Bam!!!
Kyriaki slammed his face on the floor effortlessly.
"You still don't get it, do you?"
Bam! Bam!! Slam!!!
She repeated her actions a few more times while gripping his silky red hair that had disheveled due to relentless assaults.
The trial is to fight Ebrah who has to match the challenger's core rank and physical strength, if there was a weapon, that too will be copied.
It's a matter of who dominates whom first. And the one who emerged victorious from the battle has the right to decide the fate of the defeated.
The way Kyriaki was dominating Ebrah right now was coming from a method he had never considered ever before.
And right now, Kyriaki was undeniably dominating Ebrah's soul.
That was something Ebrah couldn't understand, just like she said. But to her, it was too funny yet understandable how he wouldn't notice her method of battle.
"System," Kyriaki called out in a voice so gentle it sounded too ridiculous amidst the chaos.
"Show him." She then lifted Ebrah's head, pulling his hair mercilessly with her soft smile still maintaining.
Her earrings lightened up in a faint glow of a brilliant blue gem, as if her feelings were conveyed through it. It was hard to say who the true demon was at that point.
[Ding!]
A small sound of a bell rang through Ebrah's ears.
He opened his eyes with great difficulty, the bloody mess his beautiful face had become was humiliating, but those emotions were far too insignificant compared to the emotion of shock he felt after catching a silver-golden screen in front of his eyes.
He knew the planet's inhabitants had a system granted by the will of Mitherr-ge. It was the same for Demons. They too had the same system.
But it was a transparent system always gleaming with sky-blue color.
—Wh-what is this?— Ebrah wondered out aloud.
"This is my authority. Similar to a system. Oh, I love this additional feature I got after completing my first growth pace. I can show my system to others if I wish to, look." Ebrah felt like he wanted to vomit while listening to Kyriaki's polite and gentle talking.
How could she change her mood so swiftly?
In one minute she was cold, but before passing ten seconds it could be changed into gentleness…and then in another minute she was laughing like a maniac.
It was sickening, even to a demon king like himself.
"Hey, read it, hurry." Kyriaki urged him, gripping his hair tighter.
Ebrah, without his will, was forced to read the notification the strange system was showing.
[Sub-authority
[Rightful Possessor
Rank: GD
Category: Divine Authority
Type: Passive Skill
Description: All Your abilities are directly connected to your soul. They cannot be copied, sealed, stolen or nullified by any being, including gods.]
"See?," Kyriaki giggled. "What can a crumbling demon soul do against the authority of an apostle? You were created by a dragon and a high dwarf, and it's not even made of divine diamond or obsidian. A mere Void steel sword dare to copy the strength of an apostle? How cute."
She let go of the demon, who had a blank look on his ruby red eyes.
—An-an apostle… that can't be…— He mumbled in a daze as he collapsed on the ground, bleeding heavily. He couldn't lift a finger as he laid there with widened eyes.
—I saw the end of all gods. They all died coveting the throne of heaven. So how…— His mumbles went unheard.
Kyriaki scoffed at him with a look that said she had no obligation to enlighten him of such secretive information.
"You can't copy my abilities or strength. Which means you are an empty shell without an ounce of strength left. Your strength right now is less than a bug's leg. Pfft… Imagine getting reduced to a bug less strong than even an average G- ranker…." Her eyes curved into a half moon as she started laughing once again.
This time, it wasn't like those of a maniac, it was soft and pleasant. Her earrings seemed to glow brighter with each of her laughter that sounded like a dream.
But Ebrah knew better. The madness she hid within those jewel-like eyes was far greater than any demon's. He shivered without realizing.
For the second time in his life, an emotion other than wrath overtook his mind.
Fear.
The same fear he felt when facing his death. The lilac eyes of the woman who brought him his death flashed before his eyes, overlapping with the golden eyes observing him.
"Pfft…ah, I love the look on your face." Kyriaki stepped on his face with shining eyes.
—P-please…spare m-ARGHH—
Pow!
"Nope!" She said, popping the 'P' while kicking him on the face.
The way she said it was so adorable it could have gotten 100 marks from her three idiots if they were here.
Kyriaki walked towards the helpless demon king who went flying after her kick.
"You never spared anyone who begged you for mercy in the past, So why should I?"
Bam! Pow!! Baaammm!!!
"It must have been fun, huh? You lived in an era of war, after all. And even after your death, you continue to kill people as a possessed sword."
Paw! Paw!!!
—AHHHHH AHHHHH!!!—
"Well, I'm no different. Even in my past life, I used to have fun with serial killers and all sorts of criminals I happened to catched. The only thing I like about my job back then was the fact that I was legally allowed to torture and kill piece of sxxx like you."
Slam! Bam!!
"But even I had a conscience, you know? The belief I had, the awareness of sins I committed told me one thing…" dark black blood scattered everywhere, Ebrah twisted his whole body in agony.
Yet Kyriaki wore an ecstatic expression, her cheek flushing slightly.
"If you spend your life trampling over people, then you ought to be prepared to be trampled yourself. That's how life goes on."
Paw! Bang! Slammm!!!
—AHHHH FOR-FORGIVE ME!!! I WAS-I WAS WRO—
Slap! Bam! Pawwww!!!!
"Ah, really… baking and playing instruments isn't enough. I have to have this kind of fun to relieve my stress once in a while."
Ebrah finally vomited out a pool of blood. Although it seemed like an illusion to his assaulter, the pain he felt as well as the feeling he got from vomiting was all too real for him. His soul ached with unbearable pain.
"Oh, right…Kyriaki Elpis Eleftherios, that's my name."
Pow!
"You should remember your master's name, You fxxxxxx piece of sxxx."
Bam!!!
∆ ∆ ∆
"Rank GD means God rank, the highest rank any living being could ascend to in the Omniverse."
—By Kyriaki's System—