Chương 537: Chapter 506: Nothing Comes for Free

Thalion felt great as he moved up toward the tablets. He wasn't one to pat himself on the back often, but the fight against the elves had gone perfectly. The Mantis would have been proud of him—and once he won this system event, he would ask Lyrian for a replay. Still, no matter how smoothly things were going, it didn't change his goal. Thalion wanted first place. In theory, the other Chosen could also be holding back their treasures, just as they were doing now. It was time to push forward.

His ambitions were too high to slow down, and he still needed to rid himself of the system's mark. For that, he would need far more power. Pikar was waiting, seated on one of the tablets, while Ricarda stood motionless in the middle of the room like a statue. Thalion ignored her current state and addressed Pikar.

"Dealt with the elves. Let's move on. We can store their items in the spatial rings too, but they're only worth a few hundred points."

"Yes. We go through the gate in the middle. If I'm right, we'll need to pass through two more kingdoms before reaching another fifth floor." Pikar smiled and opened the central gate. Ricarda simply nodded, her expression blank. While the dead elves weighed heavily on her, it was the opposite for Pikar. Thalion figured that after being enslaved by elves, one naturally developed a certain hostility toward them. As they moved on, Pikar and Thalion talked about skill upgrades and their classes.

Pikar was especially interested in how shapeshifting worked. His goal was to eventually shift into his insects, confusing enemies even further. Unfortunately, Thalion didn't have much advice—shapeshifting was among the most confusing skill types. In turn, Thalion was curious about the insects. Every time he checked their forms, they only seemed to have two to four skills, and most of them were underwhelming.

That led Pikar into a long monologue about how much effort he had put into improving them—until the elves captured him and killed every single one. Before that, his insects had possessed up to six skills, and the new ones sent from the divine domain had over eight, including three passive abilities. Apparently, passive skills were extremely rare for insects, which made them all the more powerful. The underground became livelier as more trial takers found their way down.

On one hand, that was good—they could finally gather information about what was happening above. On the other hand, it meant the hunters would likely follow soon. In the next hall with multiple gates, they encountered another group—this time humans, who seemed far more reasonable. Likely because they had just lost over half their members to the D-grade entity in the kingdom below. When Pikar, Ricarda, and Thalion arrived, the group was sitting on the ground, some with tears in their eyes.

"Hey, what's with those faces?" Pikar asked the gloomy-looking humans.

"This whole system event is doomed," a thin man with a staff muttered.

"Up top, the hunters are everywhere—and they have those weapons. One hit is enough to immobilize you. And down here… early D grades. We don't stand a chance. We can only hope the hunters never find a key to the underground." Thalion hadn't seen it that way before, but the man wasn't wrong. Without the strength to defeat the D-grade threats, it was impossible to gain points. And surviving without earning points likely meant a poor reward.

"Who's the boss below? And wasn't the area sealed when you entered?" Pikar asked. Thalion remained silent, letting Pikar handle the conversation. Ricarda stayed near the wall, trying not to draw attention. It didn't work.

"The boss turned into some kind of demon and killed everyone, and then—holy shit, that's an elven Chosen!" The previously weak voice turned into a shout, and instantly the entire group jumped to their feet, grabbing their weapons. Thalion wasn't concerned in the slightest. Even in her current state, Ricarda alone would be enough to deal with them.

"Everyone calm down. She's with us," Thalion said, his voice amplified with mana until it echoed through the chamber, making their ears ring. They stared at him in disbelief, their expressions hardening.

"You're traveling with that thing?"

"Those elves enslaved my husband and my two children before killing them to advance to the next tutorial stage. I will kill this elf—no matter what." The broad-built woman gripped her hammer as she shouted at Thalion. Tears ran down her cheeks, but the sorrow quickly twisted into pure rage. Things were getting out of hand. Thalion had no intention of killing the humans just because they had a problem with elves. To be fair, he could understand that feeling all too well.

But if he had to choose a side, it would be Ricarda. If only he and Pikar made it out of the trial, they might lose the support of the gods—or at the very least, strain that relationship. Before the woman could act, Thalion vanished. A heartbeat later, he appeared in front of her, using telekinetic dash at full power. His hand closed around her throat, lifting her off the ground until her feet dangled helplessly in the air.

"I'll make this short," Thalion said coldly.

"The elf is part of my faction. That means she is under my protection. If you attack her, I will kill every single one of you in this chamber." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. His voice carried through the room, each word infused with mana, cutting through the startled shouts that erupted at his sudden movement.

"By the way," he continued, tightening his grip just enough for her skin to begin to sizzle, "you're not even strong enough to kill her. So—can you swallow your anger, or not?" The woman stared at him, wide-eyed, rage still burning in her gaze—but there was no escape from his grip. Thalion was simply too strong. Weapons were raised around him. He hadn't even released his aura yet. That changed in the next instant.

"I understand your anger," Thalion said, his voice dropping.

"You can kill every other elf if you want. But not this one. Stand down… or die. I'm not wasting time here." His killing intent flooded the chamber—dense, suffocating, absolute. The humans staggered back under the pressure. When Ricarda's aura flared up beside him, it shattered whatever resistance remained. One by one, they lowered their weapons, though not without hesitation.

"Splendid," Thalion said lightly. He released the woman, who collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. The group retreated further, staring at him as if he were something monstrous.

"Are you sure we should keep them alive?" Pikar whispered as he stepped beside Thalion.

"If the D-grade injures us, they might reconsider and take their chance." Thalion frowned slightly. Pikar had a point. Letting people live hadn't exactly worked out well for him in the past.

"Right…" Thalion muttered.

"They don't seem that dangerous, but I'll leave them to you and Ricarda. I'll go down and check how strong the D-grade is." Pikar nodded and moved toward Ricarda. Thalion didn't waste another second. He descended the stairs toward the presumed demon. Maybe they wouldn't kill the humans. They didn't seem that bad. But that wasn't his concern right now. There were at least two elven Chosen competing for first place.

That meant he would likely have to defeat five more fifth-floor D-grades—and those would not be easy fights. The first one had already nearly killed him, even with a favorable matchup. This trial was deadly and complacency would get him killed. Thalion stepped into a massive chamber. At its center stood a towering demon—over three meters tall. Runes carved into the ground formed a wide circle around it, likely containing the heat that warped the air within.

The temperature shimmered violently, the space itself trembling under the combined pressure of the demon's aura and the raging heat. This had probably once been a king. Now, there was barely anything left of him. Urnari - Level 190 Stronger than most—but still far below the girl in raw power. Thalion closed his eyes for a moment, centering himself. This fight would be far more dangerous than the skirmish with the elves. One mistake could mean death. But he could win. Slowly, he began to release his aura.

His heartbeat accelerated, power building with every pulse.

"Huh… another one coming to die," the demon chuckled, its deep voice reverberating through the chamber. Smoldering corpses lay scattered across the ground—the remains of the human group that had come before. They must have entered with over forty members. And all of them had died here. Thalion didn't respond. Instead, he drew his sword. Step by step, he moved toward the runic circle, his gaze locked onto the demon. The air around him began to vibrate as his power rose.

And for the first time, the demon's expression shifted—realizing that this fight… would not be an easy one. The moment Thalion's foot crossed the runic line, both of them exploded into motion—speed and power unleashed at once. For the demon, however, it ended almost immediately. The instant it was struck by Gaze of the Blooded Templar at full power, its soul was heavily damaged, leaving it wide open. Thalion had several ways to deal with it, but he chose Saranya as the most efficient option.

There was no reason to take risks. If the demon had something like steel skin like the last one, brute force might not be enough. If he was lucky, the demon would try to trade blows. And it did. With both clawed hands, it lunged forward, trying to grab him—but Thalion slipped underneath with a smooth motion. In the same movement, he twisted and slashed cleanly through the demon's spine. Seconds later, the body hit the ground. Dead. Thalion didn't waste time.

He began carving the demon into pieces, searching for the treasure. It turned out to be another fiery crystal—one the demon had swallowed. The process was messy, slicing through charred flesh and bone. Meanwhile, Saranya complained loudly that she was not meant for butchering corpses, but for glorious battles, and suggested he find another knife for such tasks. At the same time, the Primordial Bloodseed tried to sneakily devour the corpse with a creeping vine.

After retrieving the small crystal, Thalion didn't stop it. Moments later, the demon was completely gone—only two horns remained. When Thalion returned to the chamber above, he paused. One of Ricarda's flesh-eating plants—something resembling a massive venus flytrap—was swallowing what remained of one of the humans. The rest were already dead, being devoured by various plants, while one corpse had been claimed by Pikar to feed his larvae. And I'm supposed to be the brutal one? Thalion thought.

To be fair, they were already dead… but still. What he had done to the girl couldn't have been that much worse. Right?

"Do you need more time, or can we move?" Thalion asked.

"The demon is dead."

"I'm good," Pikar replied. Ricarda only nodded, taking a small step back under Thalion's intense gaze. They opened the gate on the right and continued onward. Pikar's ant carried one of the corpses, using it as food for developing larvae. Thalion deliberately avoided looking at the writhing mass. Days passed. Thalion collected two more red crystals by defeating D-grades. They also encountered another elven group—one that met a swift end.

What began to bother him more and more was how often their location was being revealed. Ricarda had become the primary target. With over two hundred thousand points from the massive violet crystal stored in her spatial ring, she remained within the top twenty. Unlike the seeds, the crystal was far too large to carry outside the ring. Thalion also started to wonder when his serpent form would receive another skill. The constant battles had pushed him to level 115, but there had been no new abilities.

While the double experience was undeniably a blessing, it was frustrating that there were so few creatures to fight. In the first system event, killing large numbers of enemies had been rewarded. Here, everything was different. The only real opponents were D-grades or other trial takers—both rare encounters. At this rate, he might have leveled faster outside the system event, even considering the time dilation. Still, the next D-grade should at least provide a massive reward. They entered another control room.

This time, there were only two paths forward—one gate ahead, and one leading downward. The lower gate had four empty sockets. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Pikar began to curse under his breath. The realization hit all of them at once. The four crystals. There had been no mention that they were required to proceed. Not a single hint. Without them, they would have been completely stuck. Luckily, Thalion had not missed a single one. But that didn't make it feel any better.

As the four crystals were placed into the sockets and absorbed to open the gate, something in Thalion snapped. He had fought for them. Bled for them. And now they were simply… gone.

"This better be worth it," he muttered darkly. Because if the next floor didn't hold something truly valuable, then all of this would have been nothing more than a massive waste of time. And time… was something they no longer had.