–

  Bodies were strewn across the plains, human soldiers, freshly slain and torn apart. Whole battalions had been slaughtered in what looked to be a singular overpowering blow. A single monster had done this, fought thousands of soldiers by itself and won. Every single human’s face twisted in hatred or fear.

  Ryan stepped out into this killing field as the portal disappeared behind him, leaving him stranded with no exit.

  A screen popped up.

  Ryan knew exactly what this was. He had half-expected it with how his previous Trial had gone. This was the final result of standing out too much. One of the rulers of the two warring kingdoms would stop fighting and come for you directly.

  The standard was still set at a third realm difficulty. Fleeing or hiding from Demon King Arctus was doable at realm three. Defeating the Demon King was supposed to be done by a team, with an army supporting you against his own army of demons. Defeating him in a scenario at the third realm was something only the best adventuring teams could accomplish.

  Ryan sat down and leaned back, waiting for Arctus to find him.

  –

  He yawned, bored out of his mind. The momentum from soloing an entire outpost cycled in his arm. The aura churned, waiting to be let out. A useful upgrade from his new circulation system. He did consider expending it. Ryan had been utilizing his aura too much lately. If he wanted balanced skill offerings, it would be better to make the fight slightly more fair to the Demon King.

  Assuming Arctus would ever get here.

  For a Trial with such ominous sounding descriptions, his hunter sure was taking his sweet time to find him. Maybe the Trial System expected him to have run from his spot? Perhaps the encounter would be sped up if he went jogging around instead.

  As he considered this, a light appeared behind him. The telltale swirl of a Trial portal.

  An elven [Swordsman] in an enchanted tunic stepped out of the portal. Zedart had apparently stepped back from the wandering [Swordsman] look and wore some decently expensive gear for his realm. A bottle by his waist and some heavy duty boots. There was even a new sword on Zedart’s back, a ruby encrusted into the pommel.

  Ryan rolled his eyes.

  “Of course you’re the idiot that would come.”

  Zedart nodded at Ryan, as if meeting him here was just the most expected outcome. For a moment the two looked at each other in silence. The [Swordsman]’s hand went for his sword and Ryan’s hand clenched into a fist.

  The moment was broken when a second person came barreling through the portal.

  Valee slammed into Zedart’s back, making him stumble forward. She didn’t care for the moment, the orc was glaring behind her, muttering behind her.

  “Stupid bitch, you think just cause you’re a Realmer you can–”

  The orc turned around when she felt the attention of the other adventurers on her.

  “Oh, you’re here well–”

  Whatever Valee wanted to say got cut off as the world froze around them.

  Then the world restarted around them. Ryan blinked, reading the system screen.

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  “Well that sped things up, thanks.”

  Valee was definitely staring at the same Trial descriptions he was and shook her head.

  “You’re going through some really fucked up Trials. You know that right?”

  “Well it’s not going to be fucked up if you two stay around.” Ryan made a shooing motion with his hands. “Go on, get out of here!”

  Valee’s eye twitched. “You think you’re all that? Just because you’ve leveled up a little and bullied an old Realmer dwarf?”

  Ryan laughed. “I did a lot more than bully one Realmer. I bullied a bunch of them. You should’ve seen it. I even beat a guy who regularly beat fifth realm adventurers.”

  “Wait, you beat yours?”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow.

  “Mine? Oh right, you went through something similar. Yeah, I beat mine.”

  Gamielle had told Ryan that the two in front of him were going through similar training like he had. He just didn’t expect Valee to have been clued in as well.

  “Probably not that strong then. Mine was a Realmer that should have died forty years ago. Grand Elementalist Mak’erra. She used to beat most adventurers in the sixth realm. She’s probably as strong as the seventh or maybe even eighth realm now.”

  Ryan recognized that name. Mak’erra was a famous Realmer and had been considered one the powerhouse leaders of the Leafstalkers. A terror in guerilla warfare. Though Ryan disagreed with her assessment.

  “Correction, she to beat most adventurers in the Settler generation. Those guys’ skills were all over the place. Defeating random soldiers in the settler generation means nothing. My Realmer leads an entire cult of Realmers and he’s beaten sixth realm adventurers.”

  Valee was taken aback. “A cult? There are cults in The Realm?”

  Zedart seemed confused at the entire conversation.

  “You two were fighting Realmers?”

  Ryan turned to the completely clueless [Swordsman]. With what Valee had said, he just assumed everyone had a strong Realmer in the sixth realm thrown at them. Apparently not.

  “You weren’t? What the hell were you doing?”

  “Not much, just wandering the leveled zone and training.”

  This time it was Valee’s turn to stare at Zedart.

  “He was fighting off multiple teams of adventurers while Kenheart started using some weird artifacts. I swear if I hadn’t gotten there in time, one of them would be dead.”

  Ryan dismissed it, disappointed that Zedart didn’t get some crazy upgrades.

  “Eh, been there and done that. Barely beating Kenheart and a bunch of adventurers isn’t that impressive.”

  The [Swordsman] did not like the dismissal of an opponent he’d acknowledged.

  “Would you like a spar? I believe you’ve made a mistake about Kenheart’s full abilities.”

  Ryan was exasperated. “My , you just don’t stop! Seriously, I soloed that dwarven artificer out in front and she was at least as strong as a fully prepped realm five adventurer. Do you really think you’re that good when you can barely beat a bunch of third realms?”

  “While I can accept you being ahead of me, I don’t think you met Kenheart with all his artifacts. This time I have come fully geared and ready to win at any cost. We will win and we will make you stop.”

  Ryan scoffed. “Stop me, then what?”

  “Then you will find a way to come back to being an adventurer or we will join you and become blacklisted together. I will not let you keep going alone.”

  Ryan just chuckled. Zedart was still trying to make up for his mistakes from Sector One. From when he hadn’t listened to Ryan about it all being a trap. The silly young [Swordsman] was weirdly both right and wrong. He turned to the much more sensible [Rogue] instead.

  “Is this what you think too Valee?”

  “Yes. You’re an irritating bastard but you’re too dangerous. Sooner or later you’re going to trip and get a bunch of people killed. You need people to help you out or pull you back if you go too far.”

  So that’s what these two wanted. For some reason Ryan hadn’t thought of that at all. Well he knew they wanted to stop him but joining him? Even becoming blacklisted to do it? It would have been a nice dream, once. Unfortunately…

  Ryan smiled, then took a step back and bowed. A performer’s bow.

  “Unfortunately, I must decline, already have a team, and they are far, far better than either of you two will ever be.”

  Milock and Clara came to mind, those he knew and could be honest to. Barry didn’t quite fit in there, Ryan didn’t want to call the old orc a mentor but he definitely wasn’t someone he considered part of his team.

  Zedart shook his head, misunderstanding what he meant. “Gamielle cannot be a team member. She is but a fragment of the Witch Tyrant.”

  Ryan laughed, “I wasn’t talking about Gamielle. I have my own team, they aren’t the most talented, nor the smartest but they are ”

  It was an interesting realization, the fact that he really did consider Milock and Clara to be part of his adventuring team. But it fit perfectly and he would have it no other way. Zedart’s uncannily sharp eyes seemed to understand that Ryan meant every word.

  Valee frowned, stuck on something else. “Gamielle?”

  “The Witch Tyrant’s dead daughter. Her memory, raised back up by the Witch Tyrant’s legend. C’mon Valee keep up.”

  Valee barely got out a “What?!” before she started choking on her words trying to process what he had just said.

  For once even the unflappable [Swordsman] blinked in confusion. Then he took a moment to think.

  “Ah, that makes sense.”

  The [Swordsman] just took Ryan’s words as a statement of fact and accepted it. Ryan rolled his eyes. Zedart was just too stupid to understand the implication of what he’d just said and give a proper reaction. At least Valee was still choking on her spit.

  Ryan just shook his head.

  “Like I said, you guys don’t even know what’s going on and can’t even beat a single Realmer? How do you expect to keep up with me?”

  Valee stirred at that. She had repressed the previous comment and went back to something she was familiar with.

  “That’s a lot of talk for someone that just sneak attacks everyone and then runs away.”

  “I was being and giving everyone a sporting chance. If I attacked directly, far, far more people would die.”

  “What a load of dragonshit.”

  The orc [Rogue] flexed her arms. Her bandages lighting up with multiple runes. It wasn’t just Zedart that had upgraded his gear, so had she.

  “I don’t give a shit about the past you two had, or the team you say you have. I’m recruiting you into team, kicking or screaming.” The orc captain turned to her [Swordsman]. “Zedart?”

  Zedart just stared at her.

  “I never said I’d join your team. I would prefer to be captain myself.”

  Valee’s eye twitched, though the [Swordsman] did end up nodding at her. “Though I do believe we are aligned in needing to stop him here. We can deal with the specifics afterwards.”

  “Fine by me.”

  Ryan took out Felsley’s phone and then pressed play on his theme song. Phase one of the track was slow and consistent. Low drumbeats echoed out, each note of the lute dragging out in a determined fashion. The two in front of him looked as if he was out of his mind. Ryan chuckled at the two idiots.

  “Just setting the background music.”

  Then Ryan raised the [Arm of the Aura Tyrant], one cycle, two cycles. The expression on Valee’s face changed as his restrained aura reached into the sky. [Aura of self Momentum] Carrying the music far across the battlefield.

  Valee’s eyes widened in shock–she quickly pulled her expression back to one of determination, her aura immediately cutting off and barely feeding Ryan anything. She took the stance of a sprinter. All four limbs on the ground, her enchanted bandages loosening somewhat.

  Zedart as usual gave him nothing, though he did look grim at the aura. The [Swordsman] tossed away his normal sword and reached for the ruby encrusted sword on his back instead.

  The blade flashed out of the sheathe, a pure white blade with no enchantments. Likely top class materials that wouldn’t get reduced in power in leveled zones. Overgearing might reduce your achievements... but that only mattered if you were going up against something reasonable.

  Ryan was no longer anything reasonable for any third realm to face.

  All three of them tensed as the music built up, each waiting for the other to move.

  A different voice, great and regal smashed through the tension.

  “Finally, there you are.”

  A thunderous stomp split the music, the echo rolling like a loud war drum across the land. His domineering voice surging through the air. An aura vast and suffocating appeared in the distance, rapidly coming closer with all the force of a raging Amperdon alpha. It looked like it might even dwarf Ryan’s aura.

  Of course it didn’t actually dwarf his, it was just raw and untamed. Demon King Arctus did not specialize in aura, it was simply part of what a king would naturally gain. The aura of someone that had to hold the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders.

  Demon King Arctus arrived in front of them, a demon larger than any orc. The only thing not covered in jet black armor was his head. He had a singular greatsword over his shoulder. More of a hunk of iron really.

  Not a single adventurer paid attention to the arrival of the Demon King. Ryan just pointed to the side.

  “We’re kinda having a thing right now, go over there and wait your turn, Arctus.”

  Demon King Arctus did not wait his turn. Blood trickled down from his clenched gauntlets as a vein popped in his head.

  reon is

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