Chapter 10: The owner of the holy sword

Right after the third trial, “Purification of the Sanctuary,” began.

The dark elf candidate, Darakan, let out a joyful laugh.

“It’s my chance.”

An unpleasant smile spread across his lips.

The second trial had been the affinity evaluation.

And there, the rival he had considered the most dangerous, “Rag,” had scored 0 points.

Something about black, darkness, and whatever else.

But in the end, Administrator Gugu’s verdict had been “void.”

That meant he had no affinity whatsoever with calamities.

‘A lucky bastard.’

Darakan was convinced.

The fact that Rag had hit the jackpot in the first trial and obtained the Dragon of the Great Catastrophe was nothing more than pure luck.

And on top of that, it was only a newborn hatchling.

What could a lizard the size of a fist possibly do?

In contrast, he was different.

“Go! Wipe them all out!”

Kwoooooom!

At Darakan’s shout, an enormous shadow covered the forest.

It was his familiar, the “Abyss Dragon.”

Even though it was not yet fully grown, the breath released from its gigantic body was overwhelming.

Fwoooooosh!

Dark blue flames devoured the corrupted spirits.

The mist-made monsters vanished without even being able to scream.

“Hahaha! That’s how it’s done!”

Darakan clenched his fist excitedly.

Absolute power.

That was what it meant to possess the potential to become a god.

A destructive force someone like Rag could never imitate.

‘I’m going to place first in this trial.’

Then he could surpass that guy in the overall score.

And rightfully become the owner of the first floor.

While dreaming of that sweet future, Darakan rapidly advanced through the forest.

But.

“…Damn it, why are there so many?”

Not even ten minutes had passed before Darakan’s face began to twist.

No matter how many he killed.

There was no end to them.

Whenever he cleared away one cloud of mist, another immediately appeared.

Each individual spirit was weak.

When the Abyss Dragon swung its claws, dozens exploded instantly.

The problem was the quantity.

Kyaaaaaak!

Grrrrrr…….

Strange sounds echoed from every direction.

The dark red mist blocked his vision.

It felt like being trapped in a swamp.

The more he fought, the deeper he sank.

“Hah… hah….”

Darakan’s breathing grew heavy.

Even the Abyss Dragon was showing obvious signs of exhaustion.

The power of its breath had visibly weakened.

‘This makes no sense.’

This was not a trial.

It was a massacre.

Purify tens of thousands no, hundreds of thousands of spirits?

It had been an impossible mission from the start.

“Kgh! Stop them! Don’t let them get close!”

Darakan shouted irritably.

The spirits were already almost in front of him.

A nauseating smell, like rotting flesh, invaded his nostrils.

Fear began taking hold of him.

‘If I’m struggling like this….’

Suddenly, he began wondering what was happening to the other candidates.

If someone with a high-ranking familiar like the Abyss Dragon was suffering this much.

Then what had happened to the others?

‘They must all be dead.’

There was no need to even think about it.

Meaningless deaths.

Especially that guy.

‘Rag.’

That useless bastard with 0 affinity points.

The guy whose only support was a tiny dragon hatchling the size of a fist.

He had surely already been torn apart by the spirits near the entrance of the forest.

There probably were not even bones left of him.

“He deserves it.”

Darakan tried to comfort himself.

If he was having such a hard time, it was because the difficulty of this trial was absurd.

At least he was still holding on.

Just surviving practically guaranteed him a high position in the rankings.

Just as he was trying to convince himself of that.

Flash!

At the center of the sanctuary.

At an unbelievably far distance, a burst of light exploded.

“…?”

Darakan doubted his eyes.

It looked as if the sun itself had risen.

The sickly purple sky turned completely white in an instant.

And then.

Booooooom!

The roar came afterward, striking his eardrums.

The earth shook violently.

Nearby trees were uprooted.

Darakan fell to the ground screaming.

“Uaaaaaagh! What the hell was that?!”

Had a nuclear bomb exploded?

The shockwave swept through the entire forest.

The spirits that had been relentlessly clinging to him vanished without a trace, caught in the storm.

The mist dissipated.

The world fell silent.

Darakan slowly raised his head, stunned.

At the center of the sanctuary, covered in dust and smoke.

A gigantic mushroom-shaped cloud was rising.

‘What the hell is that?’

Before he could even understand what was happening.

Ding!

A system message appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[The third trial, “Purification of the Sanctuary,” has ended.]

[The source of contamination within the sanctuary has been completely eliminated.]

[All candidates must cease their actions.]

Finished?

Already?

Darakan opened his mouth in disbelief.

The source of contamination had been eliminated?

‘Who? How?’

Had the administrator intervened?

Had they canceled the exam because the difficulty was poorly balanced?

As confusion filled his mind, another message appeared.

[Calculating purification contribution for the trial.]

[Announcing rankings.]

Rankings.

Darakan swallowed hard.

Of course.

If someone had truly resolved the situation, then there would be a ranking.

He had eliminated quite a few spirits at the beginning thanks to the Abyss Dragon.

He even had a real chance of placing first.

But.

As his eyes descended through the list, they widened until they almost tore apart.

[1st place: Rag (Contribution 99.7%)]

[2nd place: Darakan (Contribution 0.15%)]

[3rd place: Seria (Contribution 0.1%)]

……]

“…What?”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He thought he had read it wrong.

99.7%?

Had he practically done it alone?

And on top of that, the contribution of second place, meaning his own, did not even reach a full single unit.

A value lower than dust.

“W-what the hell is this….”

It was impossible.

He couldn’t accept it.

Hadn’t he scored 0 points in calamity affinity?

Wasn’t he just an empty shell without abilities?

This had to be a dream.

Yes, a damned nightmare.

Darakan rubbed his eyes.

He looked again.

And then again.

But the number floating in the air did not change in the slightest.

99.7%.

Smack!

He slapped his own cheek hard.

A burning pain spread across his face, but the nightmare did not disappear.

“That… makes no sense.”

The gigantic mushroom cloud that had destroyed the center of the sanctuary.

That destructive power capable of completely reshaping the terrain.

And they were telling him all of that had been caused by a single man?

That same guy who had scored 0 affinity points?

“That’s impossible! There’s no way he has that kind of power!”

Just as Darakan shouted desperately.

Fwoooooosh!

The sky opened.

The dark clouds dispersed, and a gigantic pillar of sacred light descended from above.

Within that light, a figure slowly began to rise.

“…An angel?”

The gazes of all the candidates fixed on the sky.

The great angel Abriel.

The superior existence known as the guardian of the sanctuary was ascending toward the heavens.

In her arms, she carried someone.

Arms and legs hanging limply.

Head lowered downward.

It was Rag.

“I-is he dead?”

“There’s no way anyone could survive an explosion like that.”

The candidates began murmuring.

It looked as though he had died from the blast.

Hope returned to Darakan’s eyes.

Yes.

He had to be dead.

Such an absurd monster should not exist.

But then.

【Listen.】

The angel’s voice echoed throughout the entire sanctuary.

A solemn and sacred voice that forced anyone who heard it to feel reverence.

【This man respected my children and punished the mad god that no one else could endure.】

Abriel carefully held Rag’s body.

As though she were holding a sacred relic.

【Oh, the most merciful and at the same time the most destructive of all.】

The angel knelt in the air.

【I, Abriel, from this day onward shall serve you as my new god and my one and only master.】

“……!”

There was not even time to react.

Shwaaaaaaaaaa!

A dazzling light exploded from Abriel’s body.

Her form dispersed into particles of light.

And then gathered together once more into a new shape.

Clang!

A crystalline and pure sound.

When the light disappeared, the angel was no longer there.

Instead.

A holy sword floated beside Rag, with a guard shaped like radiant white wings.

“…Hah.”

Darakan could not close his mouth.

As if obtaining the Dragon of the Great Catastrophe had not been enough.

…Even the great angel of the sanctuary had voluntarily become a weapon to follow Rag.

***

Administrator Gugu pressed a small wing against his forehead.

‘…This turned out terribly.’

He felt a terrible headache coming on.

This had not been part of the plan.

No, the entire scenario had been destroyed.

The original intention of the third trial was very clear.

On the surface, it was “Purification of the Sanctuary.”

But in reality, it was an assassination contract.

The target was the great angel Abriel.

And the goal was to release the seal she protected with her life.

In other words, to free the Mad God Tulkacha.

‘Tulkacha’s authority was far too valuable.’

Gugu clicked his tongue.

‘Runaway Volcano.’

That power was not simply about throwing hot lava around.

It was the authority to control the volcanic veins of the entire world.

It could even forcibly command lesser gods with fire and earth attributes.

It was an authority worthy of rulers.

It was no surprise that the gods of the tower coveted such a power.

But there was a problem.

Tulkacha had gone insane, and the one who sealed him was the noble great angel Abriel.

‘There was no justification.’

The gods cared greatly about appearances.

Kill a flawless angel simply to release a deranged god?

Public opinion in Asgard would never have allowed it.

So they resorted to a trick.

They sent ignorant candidates into the sanctuary.

When the spirits attacked them, the candidates would fight back to survive.

And naturally, they would eventually clash with Abriel.

If the candidates killed Abriel, the gods would only need to appear afterward and calmly collect Tulkacha.

It was a perfect plan.

Until that bastard Rag appeared.

‘How the hell did he do it?’

Gugu narrowed his eyes while observing Rag.

Even though he appeared unconscious and completely collapsed, his life force remained intact.

No.

In fact, it was even stronger than before.

Joining forces with Abriel was one thing.

And using the power of the holy sword as well.

But even so, “annihilation” was impossible.

Gods were practically immortal.

You could destroy their bodies, but erasing even the divinity that made up their essence was a completely different matter.

And yet, Tulkacha had vanished without leaving even a trace.

As though someone had swallowed him whole.

‘The ones above are going to be furious.’

Gugu sighed.

But there was nothing left to do now.

Spilled water could not be recovered.

He only hoped that “their” anger would be directed toward Rag and not toward him.

Especially because.

Ding!

The system had already calculated the results.

Administrators were slaves to the system.

Regardless of personal emotions or political positions, they were required to announce the results fairly.

Wiiiiiiing!

A flash illuminated the area, and the surviving candidates were summoned back once again.

“Ugh….”

“W-we’re alive.”

The survivors, including Darakan.

All of them crawled across the ground covered in dirt.

They had been on the verge of dying while being chased by the spirits, and were only still alive thanks to the explosion caused by Rag.

Gugu forced a professional smile.

“Very well, everyone worked hard. The third trial has concluded!”

Clap! Clap!

He slapped his wings together in applause.

The candidates looked up at him in a daze.

It seemed they still did not fully understand the situation.

“As promised, the source of contamination within the sanctuary has been eliminated. Though the process was rather spectacular.”

Gugu’s gaze stopped briefly on Rag before moving away.

“The evaluation criterion for this trial was contribution.”

Gulp.

The candidates swallowed nervously.

They still held onto a tiny hope.

Maybe they would receive a decent score simply for surviving.

But Gugu was mercilessly cold.

He pointed toward the holographic chart floating in the air.

“Now I will announce the results.”

Gugu’s voice rang out dry and clear.

“First place, Rag. 300 points.”

“……!”

Everyone’s mouths fell open.

300 points.

The previous 200 points had already been absurd.

And now came 300.

They could not even imagine what the maximum score was supposed to be.

“And furthermore….”

Gugu scanned the rest of the list.

He barely managed to suppress the sigh threatening to escape him.

“Darakan, 2 points.”

“……T-this is impossible! There has to be some mistake if I only got 2 points!”