Chapter 43 Intermission [2] - Second Trial

"Why do you stand in my way?" A voice reverberated throughout the stars. It was deep and powerful, yet simultaneously, it felt low, as if it was a sound that barely reached the ear.

"I may stand in your way today, but tomorrow I shall not..." A being made of light spoke, his voice soft yet powerful, while his aura extended to the galaxy's edges as if it was reaching for every star within it.

Grasping at the very confines of the universe that it stood on.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys spouting words in random patterns does not create a sentence. You're speaking gibberish at best!" The man standing across the bright figure sneered and tried to fly past it, but he was quickly stopped as a barrier created out of light seemed to sprout before him.

"Let me advise you, friend, this is not her will. This will only bring your downfall. They will besiege the walls of Calabria and bring you to the end."

"What?"

"The stars are going out, Void Walker. Darkness is coming, and silence will fall. Yet before the silence comes a bang. An explosion bigger than any other!" The being made out of light roared as star-like tears came out of its eyes, and its light faded to finally give shape.

A little girl...

That was behind the light, which was holding it together.

"The Walker Of Voids has been birthed and light has shone upon the universe!" The girl wept while the man, who was covered in a dark purple mist, simply stood in place, mortified by the shrill screams coming out of the girl's mouth.

Space fractured around the man, yet he knew that the girl before him was equally strong, if not stronger.

He was not particularly strong compared to Void Walkers at their prime, but he was still considered a Calamity level threat by every race in the universe.

Yet, in front of this little girl, he felt he was nothing but average. In front of a star spirit, everyone either became weak or average.

"Yet it is his death that shall take that final light away. It is his death that will darken the nebulas and open the abyss."

"The Void will break through, and silence shall fall."

***

"Lloyd! What the hell was that!?" A voice made Lloyd's ears perk up before making him look back, yet the moment he did so, he could not help but grunt as a figure tackled him to the ground.

All the other participants simply walked around them, while some could not help but throw a few curious glances at the situation before walking off.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked through gritted teeth as he pushed Zack off him.

"Did you not see how many points you got? You even beat me!"

"Oh really?" Lloyd asked, his voice showing that he was genuinely surprised by what Zack told him despite already being aware that he did much better than Zack.

"Yeah! Look!" Zack shouted before opening a screen showing leaderboards across all divisions and groups.

[Leaderboards]

[1. Deligia Pendragon - 6821 Points]

[2. Fatima Khan - 5718 Points]

[3. Lloyd Elrod - 5539 Points]

[4. George Cassidy Quinn - 3013 Points]

[5. Scarlet Crimson - 2051]

[6. Zack Varlen Glade - 1992]

[...]

[...]

[...]

"The only reason you didn't do as well as us is because you don't use that brain of yours." Lloyd sighed while knocking on Zack's head.

"HUH! You wanna go bro?!"

"I don't 'Wanna go, bro.' I wanna get this over and done with so I can eat a nice meal and sleep for as long as I want." Lloyd sighed while walking away from Zack, who pitifully followed behind.

'A little more than a day till my next void walk. Sure as hell hope that the ceremony won't last that long.' Lloyd thought to himself as he walked over to a food stand and ordered something to eat.

A few hours went by in a flash before Lloyd and Zack were called back to their groups.

Zack had asked many questions about how Lloyd did it, but all the answers Lloyd gave were that he deceived all of them, robbed their points, and left before the cameras could show up.

He would continue to ask about things such as surviving the explosion that the mosquito queen created by overcharging her mana core.

"Mr. Elrod?" A man with a black suit and sunglasses asked as he suddenly appeared beside Lloyd.

"Yeah?" Lloyd tilted his head.

"You have been fined $20,119 for destroying a camera and deactivating the rest." The man stated.

"Camera damages? I did no such thing."

"You are the main culprit."

"Being the main culprit does not mean that I deactivated them. Hey, they might have been destroyed during the explosion." Lloyd reasoned while an awkward and slightly agitated expression appeared on the man's face.

"I will further review this case with my bosses." He spoke through gritted teeth and disappeared from where he stood as Lloyd simply waved him goodbye with a bright smile on his face.

'20k? What a load of bullshit. I'm certain that the cameras that were following me around would have cost close to 50-70k each. The rest only suffered minor damages due to it only being an electro-magnetic pulse, not an attack that fully destroyed its infrastructure.'

'They would have lured with the 20k into confessing before suddenly bringing up the rest of the destruction and fines to throw me down a rabbit hole of fines.' Lloyd thought to himself as the smile on his face refused to waver.

*"Welcome to the second trial!"* A voice roared throughout the expansive hall filled with hundreds of people.

'Hundreds?' Lloyd raised a brow, yet after looking around, he realized something.

"They mixed some of the other assassin divisions with ours." Lloyd muttered as he looked around the room.

However, a frown suddenly appeared on his face as his eyes landed on a group of individuals he had barely seen a few hours ago.

'Well, it makes sense that they would bring them back. They had good scores until I came and knocked them out of the game. They did well enough to stay in the entrance ceremony.' Lloyd mused before looking away from with.

*"All contestants shall be placed into teams of five. Every single team member will be from a different group or division. Team placement will be random. However, the challenge will be lowered according to the group's overall power."* The voice explained with a monotone, almost robotic tone, yet despite that, Lloyd could feel a hint of amusement within its voice.

*"Every team will enter a dungeon created to test the members. You will be forced to work as a team; the less time it takes to get to the end, the more points you will have. 'Losing' a team member will cause the team to lose 20% of their points. The more team members you lose, the higher the percentage of points lost."* The voice further explained, causing everyone in the hall to nod with serious expressions on their faces.

*"A message showing your team formation will be sent to your watches."*

Looking at his watch, Lloyd tapped on it a few times before allowing a screen to appear before him.

"I see..." He muttered, a smile slowly stretching across his face.

***

30 Minutes later.

Before an enormous blue dungeon gate stood 5 people, each one of them dressed magnificently that not only showed their personality but also their skills, abilities, and class.

"Yo!" A girl with black hair and brown eyes waved, her hair dancing as she turned toward her teammates.

'Goddamn it! Another extrovert!' Lloyd could not help but inwardly complain, but he couldn't do much more than that.

pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "My name is Fatima Khan, number 2 in this star system and the best archer of my generation!" She grinned before turning to the boy who stood to her right.

"My name is John. I'm going to be the best knight in the universe one day!" The boy thrust his fist into the air as an expression of confidence appeared on his face.

"Yeah! That's more like it!" Fatima laughed almost maniacally as she crossed her arms and raised her chin.

After a fit of laughter, she looked at the girl to her right and asked the same question, and as if Fatima's energy was contagious, the once shy girl who hid behind her shoulders was now filled with both power and confidence.

"My name is Jenna... And I'm going to become the best oracle in the human race-... No. I will become the best oracle in existence!" She roared.

"My name is Jack and... And I'm going to revive martial arts and make them stronger than the art of magic!" Jack screamed, his voice high-pitched, indicating he hadn't fully hit puberty despite being the age of 16.

Just as Jack finished his monologue, the entire team looked toward me with equal anticipation.

*Sigh*

Letting out a sigh, Lloyd looked at Fatima with a bit of curiosity. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't moderately cute, as she seemed to have all the characteristics needed to fit that description.

Her face was round, and her eyes sparkled like a child seeing a magic trick for the first time.

She was also quite short in stature, but that was not what caught Lloyd's interest.

'Her aura... It is a little bit like my [Monarch's Aura]... Well, not exactly. My passive is much stronger and has an effect that can be expanded for close to a mile. It can even change the perception of things. However, the fact that hers is weak and almost subtle makes it deadly in its own sense.' Lloyd mused as he parted his lips to finally introduce himself.

"My name is Lloyd Elrod. #3 in this star system and a pretty good shadow assassin if I say so myself." Lloyd chuckled, yet his introduction was anti-climactic at best compared to the enthusiasm the others showed.

However, while he could feel the disappointment seeping out of the other 3, Fatima looked at him differently.

'Amusement?' Lloyd asked himself. He couldn't help but think he had seen that exact same expression on someone else's face before, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.

'I think she was powerful? Hmm. I can't remember at all. Oh well.' Lloyd shrugged to himself.

"Goal?" Jack asked as Lloyd felt close to losing himself in his own thoughts.

Looking at Jack for a moment, Lloyd broke out into a grin.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to be the strongest..."

'To survive.' Lloyd inwardly thought.

"Oh. I forgot to tell you guys my goal haha!" Fatima rubbed the back of her head.

However, as if a switch had been flipped, his whole demeanor changed instantly as her once goofy aura was replaced by one filled with seriousness.

The smile on her face disappeared instantly, and before the other three team members knew it, they had turned pale and began to sweat profusely.

"My goal...

Is to get rid of every single stinking Void Walker from the face of the universe."