Chapter 288 - Preliminary Brief

"Ghh!"

A sudden sensation of the skin of his hand being charred shot his eyelids open as he sat up quickly, looking at his afflicted hand as his veins pressed against his reddened skin. He could see it even beneath the fabric of the glove: the sigil inhabiting the back of his hand was glowing with a mystical velvet, etching into his flesh the searing pain. 

"Gyow!"

"Ah…!"

It wasn't a moment after this rude awakening that the others in the room shot up, experiencing the same, unwelcoming sensation. 

"What the hell?! They didn't tell us it'd hurt like a bitch!"

Macheo complained as he clenched his fist, wincing with his teeth grating. After another half minute, the pain slowly dulled--leaving the now awoken members drenched in sweat from the abrupt pain. 

A click resounded from the door, something that caught each ear in the room, and brought every pupil to its form. 

"I guess that's our cue…"

Ren muttered as he brought himself to his feet, caressing the back of his hand as echoes of the burning pain still reverberated through his skin. 

With a slight reluctance, the five headed out through the door with a disgruntled grogginess guiding their step. Traversing the lengthy, but lavish hallway felt like a task birthed infinitely--passing by what felt like the same doors, and same paintings. 

"Are you sure we're going the right way?!"

"What other way is there?"

Ren responded with a sigh to the blonde-haired young man's rudely asked question, who stomped down the hall like a tantrum-throwing toddler. 

"Two, large black doors...wait, that's it, isn't it?" 

Repeating the sole information given to them all the same by Impy, Iris looked up just to see in the near distance an unmissable set of sable doors, standing with an imposing aura. It wasn't the only thing to catch the group's attention, however; a pair coming from the opposing end of the hall reached the set of doors at the same time as them. 

"Oh! Other participants?"

Taking the initiative in greeting them was a man with a carefree smile, standing half a head above Ren. His voice left his lips like a ray of sunshine, not too high, or too low--though, he was clearly in his mid-twenties from his appearance and voice. 

"Yeah...hey." 

A bit surprised by the bubbly nature of someone within Purgatory, Ren returned the greeting as if representing his group, meeting the extended hand from the pale man with curly, jet-black locks. As their hands met, a sudden jolt traveled through Ren's arm as the grip he felt embrace his hand was not what he expected. 

From what he could see from the man's build, hidden beneath a baggy, pale-white coat, he didn't seem outwardly muscular, but his grip contested that notion. 

"The name's Jae-Seong, nice to meet you!"

Introducing himself with a dazzling smile, the man shook Ren's hand, looking at him from behind his tinted shades. 

That's a Korean name, hmm...and his attitude, his glasses--is he? Ren thought. 

"Jae-Seong…?" 

Pushing to the front of the group, stepping slightly between Ren and the mysterious, but friendly, fellow participant, Macheo looked up at the man with an inquisitive gaze. 

"Oh! What a surprise! If it isn't the Prince himself! Fancy meeting you here, Lord Macheo." 

Without any shift in his carefree tone, Jae-Seong greeted the Lucrauvian royal with a slight bow before chuckling.

"You know each other…?"

Turning his eyes to Macheo, Ren raised an eyebrow as he watched the golden-haired companion of his' eyes not waver an inch from Jae-Seong's form. 

"There's not a single Lucrauvian that doesn't know the name of Jae-Seong--he's one of the Eight Heavenly Kings."

"?!"

The same reaction spawned from everyone within the group, all eyes falling on the man whose aura didn't feel like anything of the sort--simply smiling cheerfully as his true identity was given. 

"Eight Heavenly Kings…?"

Ren muttered out as he looked at the less than assuming man before him, now scanning his form as if reevaluating what he was looking at. 

Iris told me about them before I think, an elite force of otherworlders in Lucrauv--similar to the Outlanders, he thought. 

"What're you doing here, Jae-Seong?"

Macheo asked without any warmth, looking up at the man who clearly surpassed him in height by a noticeable amount. 

"As cold as ever, I see. Just kidding...Well, I'm just here to kill some time, really. The scenery in Lucrauv gets a bit stale, you know? Snow here, snow there. Though, maybe my decision was inspired by someone else." 

Answering with a carefree laugh, Jae-Seong ruffled his curly locks as the silver-chain necklace around his neck jiggled, shrugging his shoulders as he cracked his neck side to side. 

To kill time?! Ren thought. 

"Oh! You remember Yuri, right, Ma--I mean, Lord Macheo?"

Noticing the golden-haired royal's eyes trying to look at the person standing behind the Heavenly King, Jae-Seong turned to introduce his companion to the group. 

With an expression as rigid and deadpan as could be, the girl who looked no older than Aiko turned her gaze to the group, bowing her head before resuming her idle stance. The outfit she wore was clearly a military uniform of some sort--an all-black getup with a white cape draped over her shoulders, running complementary to her dark hair tied into a ponytail, along with her refined, snow-white irises. 

"An honor to make your acquaintance, Prince Macheo. An honor to make your acquaintance, companions of Prince Macheo." 

As if programmed to speak those words, Yuri bowed once more before resuming her idle stance--earning a chuckle from the frivolous man. 

"Yeah, uh, nice to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Good to meet ya'!"

Those in the group responded in kind, though the girl's expression remained unmoving. All the while, Macheo seemed disgruntled by the presence of the two from Lucrauv. 

"I get it now...Yuri is here as your bodyguard. Always dragging other people into your whims, Jae-Seong…"

Macheo spoke in a sharp tone as he shook his head, squinting his crimson eyes at the man holding the title of Heavenly King. 

"...Hmm, anyway! We should best get inside; wouldn't want to keep the others waiting."

Brushing off the question aimed at him, Jae-Seong giggled like a playful child before pushing the heavy, thick doors open with a simple push of his hand, parting their unmoving state as the territory waiting beyond revealed itself. 

Huddling up with the others in his group, Ren whispered--not wanting to invoke any well-hidden wrath of Jae-Seong. 

"...Another otherworlder, huh? And here I thought my kind were rare."

Ren joked, taking a peek at Jae-Seong, who was waiting by the newly-opened entrance--as if participating within their group. 

"Another pain in the ass."

The sharp words from the draconic knight sounded more like an insult to Ren, but it was set aside as Iris interjected with her own words. 

"A Heavenly King...if he's going to be in the tournament, then--"

"Let's not think too much about it!"

With words deprived of wisdom, Hongse interrupted the blue-haired girl before guiding the group forward with his large wingspan, gently pushing them forward into the awaiting domain. 

"A bit of a breeze in here."

Jae-Seong spoke with his established suave as he took the lead into the dim abode, keeping his hands tucked into the pockets of his pale coat. 

Following behind him, the group looked around before suddenly stopping and jumping at the sudden awakening of flames throughout the room--birthing light into the otherwise shadowy domain before the territory they found themselves in was revealed at last. 

In the darkness he failed to notice--there were at least two dozen other people waiting in the room, maybe even more. 

"It seems all of our participants have arrived! Welcome, challengers of Purgatory! I, Sitri, will be the overseer of the qualification round of the Champion's Culling!"

Standing on a balcony that overlooked the floor of participants below, a well-dressed man with salt and pepper hair spoke with showmanship. It didn't take a second glance for Ren to decipher the identity of the man--by the unique, triangle-shaped irises he possessed, it was clear he was a demon. 

Bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Ren thought. 

Due to the nature of being surrounded by so many unknown entities, the five kept close to one another--while Jae-Seong and Yuri remained unbothered by the situation. 

"Qualifying round…? I don't remember hearing anything about that."

Ren muttered beneath his breath, but still letting his words meet the ears of his closely tucked companions. 

"Like I said: we should expect some details to be left out."

Cementing her earlier statement, Valerie commented quietly as she let out a heavy breath, adjusting her crimson locks before wrapping herself in her silver cape. 

Clearing his throat, the proclaimed overseer silenced the mutters of the participants that spoke amidst the sudden, surprise event. 

"I'm sure you're all just as excited to discover the nature of this qualification round; within the Champion's Culling, this special preliminary changes each and every time!" 

As the flamboyant demon spoke as if speaking through a megaphone, something caught Ren's eye amidst the moment of perplexion--quickly nudging the two companions at his side with his elbows. 

"The hell are you doing?"

Macheo whispered in a hiss, retreating his arm from the man's touch as he looked at Ren--whose eyes were honed in on one section. 

"What is it, Ren?"

Iris looked worriedly at the white-haired man as he seemed almost in a trance with his lips left slightly agape before he finally answered. 

"Isn't that...Aiko?"

Pointing past a dozen or so people, Ren guided the eyes of his companions over to the unmistakable head of neat, short-cut beige hair. 

"Huh...what the hell?" 

Macheo muttered, squinting his eyes as he met this same sight. Without any hesitation, the three who noticed the presence of the girl attempted to close the distance--only to find that action completely halted by some unknown force. 

Before Ren could lift his boot and set it back down onto the cobblestone floor below, it felt as if a thousand static threads wrapped themselves tightly around his leg. 

"Ghh...I can't move at all…!"

"Same here!"

A few surrounding eyes from fellow competitors noticed the binding that captured the three, seeming surprised themselves at this development. 

"As you can see, your silence, patience, and cooperation is required." 

Spoken in a more serious tone by the overseer from above, the words fell upon the three before the binding was released from them, nearly causing Ren and Macheo to tumble before the tubby panda demi-human caught them in his reliable arms. 

"I've got you!"

"Thanks, Hongse." 

Ren nodded with a smile before returning his gaze up to the overseer with a frustrated glint in his eyes, wiping the sweat from his cheek. 

"...What's she doing here, though?"

"I don't know, but I guess they don't want us finding out." 

Answering for Ren, Macheo huffed, showcasing the same level of frustration as his comrade as they stayed close to one another. 

Clearing his throat once more, Sitri continued his loudly-spoken words, "As I am sure you're all eager to know, I will now explain to you the details of the preliminary game!"

Holding a single finger up that was glad in a stainless, pale-white glove, the overseer presented a smile as every eye in the room was on him, silently and intently watching as this information was clear as day important to all within the chamber. 

Just what do you have in store for us, Purgatory? Ren thought.