[“Are you sure that there was an enemy? I can’t see anyone…”]

[“I definitely saw something. But it escaped before I could get a clear look…”]

[“Hmm… are we safe? Shouldn’t we retreat? This is Edahi! What if the enemy knows our position?”]

[“Hey! Where’s Borag?”]

The last question stopped the three minotaurs. Only at this moment did they realize that they were missing one minotaur.

[“Borag? No no no. What about the Boss? Shouldn’t the Boss have reached us by now?”] The disappearances began to dawn on the minotaurs.

Azen stared at them from the side. He wanted to snipe another of their members but seeing their confusion, he realized that they had put on their guards.

His eyes turned grave as he thought for a moment. In the end, he extended his arms and summoned three clouds of darkness. They sneaked onto the backs of the minotaurs.

[“Let’s go back!”] The minotaurs decided to return to their camp.

‘Now!’ The dark clouds pounced on their victims. Covering the faces of the three minotaurs at once, they effectively rid them of their most useful senses.

Azen didn’t wait. His dagger danced in the air.

Tshikk! Tshikk! Tshikk!

The three minotaurs collapsed into the embrace of dark blankets. With deep wounds on their necks, their blood leaked onto the ground.

Azen approached the dying bodies. He touched the neck of the first minotaur. Darkness diffused into the minotaur’s body, devastating its internal organs.

Soon, the minotaur’s body blackened and transformed into a charred statue. After a slight pause, the ashes disintegrated.

‘Another failure…’ Azen groaned and approached the second half-dead minotaur. Touching its neck, he went through the same process.

This time, the ashes didn’t immediately disintegrate. Azen closed his eyes and waited. Nevertheless, the ashes crumbled.

[“Mercenary…”] Azen’s lips moved as he spoke an unfamiliar word. Excited, he approached the last body. While repeating the process, the third minotaur survived for longer before disintegration.

[“More… enemy… need…”] Azen mumbled.

Witnessing the whole process, Ren gasped. Azen had just spoken in the language of the locals!

‘Mind Reading!’ A terrible thought crossed Ren’s mind. At the same time, despair clutched his heart.

Ren had lost his only advantages over Azen. With this ability, Azen had nullified the advantage of his Omnilingual Evolution.

At the same time, Ren felt a sense of urgency in his heart. Azen was trouncing him in every field. He had better combat potential, an overpowered Elemental Conversion Technique and the ability to read minds.

While Ren had wasted his day, Azen only needed one night to boost his strength exponentially. It was foreseeable that the gap in strength would only grow.

Ren took a deep breath. He steeled his heart to find a method to meet the Divine Emperor at all costs.

As the time neared dawn, Azen returned to the cottage. His return was much smoother than his exit. Without touching the window, he merely operated the darkness to open the window. Sliding into his bed, he tossed the dagger.

A cloud of darkness guided the dagger onto the wall. As the darkness disappeared, the dagger did not retain even a stain of Azen’s adventures.

On the bed, Azen grinned. His gains over the night were plentiful. He had indiscriminately killed anyone he found in the forest. Over the night, he had added nearly 20 corpses into his kill count.

Not only did he learn the local language, but he also gathered some of their secrets. With his newfound knowledge, he had already formulated plans for his next adventure. At the same time, his proficiency in his Elemental Conversion Technique improved by leaps and bounds.

However, he wasn’t grinning over his successes. He had a special gift for Ren, and he anticipated Ren’s reaction.

Soon, the sun peaked above the horizon, and Azen’s eyes lost focus. His blue eyes slowly transformed, returning to an amber color.

Ren regained control over his body. He sighed in relief as he decided to begin his counterattack. Over the night, he had built a plan. First, he had to speak with Lena.

Filled with renewed mental energy, Ren sat up.

Thud!

Just as he moved, Ren collapsed back onto his bed. Confused, Ren tried to get up once again, only to fail once more.

Realization dawned upon Ren.

‘My body is too tired… DAMN IT!!! AZEN!!!’ Enraged, Ren gritted his teeth.

Over 18 hours had passed since Ren had slept. Furthermore, last night’s activity had sapped Ren’s body of all its strength.

Ren almost wanted to punch his own face, hoping it would hurt Azen. Visualizing Azen's smirk, his hatred for his rival swelled.

‘NO! I won’t let this stop me! He won’t win like this!!’ Grinding his teeth, Ren wobbled over to the jug of water. He poured water onto his face, relieving him of some of the fatigue.

With heavy steps, Ren strode up the stairs within the cottage.

“Mhmm…” Lena stretched her body. Staring at the rising sun through the window, she grinned.

‘A new day! I must make up for yesterday! Lena! You can do it!!’ Cheering herself, she rushed at her wardrobe, changing from her nightclothes.

Just as she opened her wardrobe, her cat-ears caught an unusual sound.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Lena’s tail instinctively straightened and her eyebrows creased. Her heightened senses felt the vibration.

‘That’s not Ren! The footsteps are too heavy. Is it a minotaur? Or could it be…’ She shuddered as the heavy footsteps reminded her of a recent nightmare.

‘The guards! Did the monster kill the guards!? It’s dawn… Sister! She’s not here… Wait! What about Ren? Could the monster have eaten Ren? Oh no, what do I do?’ Lena panicked and her eyes wandered around her room.

She noticed an antique sword near her desk. She hastily grabbed the sword and unsheathed it. Holding the unfamiliar weapon, her hands shivered.

‘Lena! Just stab the monster and run down. If you find Ren, take him and flee. You can do this!’ Steeling her heart, she took a few steps back and waited.

Thump! Thump!

As the footsteps grew louder, Lena’s heart rate rose.

Bang! Bang!

Hearing two bangs on her door, Lena’s soul nearly left her body.

‘Lena! You must face this monster. Ren’s down! I must defeat this monster and protect him! Worst case, I’ll use…’

Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. She pointed a finger at the door, unlocking it before dashing towards the door, her sword pointed at the 'monster'.

Ren noticed that the door had unlocked. Too tired to think, he opened the door to witness a weird scene.

Lena dashed towards him with a sword pointed at his chest.

‘REN!?’ Seeing Ren at the door, Lena tried to stop her dash but by then, she had gained too much momentum. Gritting her teeth, she turned to her right and pointed her sword towards the side.

Nevertheless, a collision was inevitable. Lena crashed into Ren and slammed him onto the wall across her room.

CRASH!!

The collision knocked out the air in Ren’s lungs. It seemed as though the world was against him as his vision darkened.

Outside, two guards sipped their morning tea. They were werewolves of average build.

Crash!

A large sound alerted the werewolves. With grave expressions, they rushed into the cottage. One werewolf searched the bottom while his companion rushed to the top. Tensed, the companion climbed up the stairs. He knew that the noise had originated from the top.

His hasty footsteps suddenly stopped. Pretending as though he hadn’t seen anything, he returned.

He stopped his partner who clearly had panic written all over his face.

“What happened? Is the Honored Guest okay?”

“Yeah. Everything is… fine. Let’s go.” The werewolf replied with a ‘serious’ expression.

His partner looked at him in suspicion before following the werewolf as they left the house. The werewolf glanced at the stairs before complaining under his breath.

“Kids and their weird endurance games…”

“Endurance game?” His partner asked.

“Please don’t ask. I still have nightmares of that stupid game.”

“What's this? Tell me more.” His partner grew more enthusiastic.

“Ah, it’s nothing! Anyways, have you seen the sky today? It’s so blue… I wish it was green, just like the grass my son once ate… Have I told you of that story?” He randomly changed the subject, and his clueless partner joined along.

“Ugh…” Lena groaned. Seeing the unconscious Ren, her face paled. She glanced at her hand and sighed in relief. Fortunately, the sword hadn’t touched Ren.

“Oh no… Did I knock him too hard? Is he alive…?” Lena panicked and shook Ren, even slapping him a couple of times. In her panic, she did not notice a werewolf watching this. The werewolf left without making a peep.

After a few moments, she ran down and returned with a large bucket of water. With fidgety hands, she emptied it on Ren.

Cough! Cough!

With a couple of coughs, Ren woke up. Seeing Lena, he remembered his original purpose of visiting her.

“Sis Lena… I’m sorry about last night… The food was great…” Saying this, he struggled to get up.

Lena tilted her head in confusion. She wasn’t expecting such warm words. She helped Ren onto a chair.

“Sis Lena… *cough* do you have anything that can remove fatigue?”

Lena studied Ren’s expression and noticed that he was suffering from over-exhaustion. His face looked pale, and his eyes were drowsy.

She hesitated before running down. Soon, she returned with a bottle of pills. Picking a couple, she handed them to Ren. Ren swallowed the pills without hesitation.

As he drowned the pills, Ren's fatigue cleared up as his body regained some strength. Like a parched man drinking a cup of water, he felt replenished.

“Thank you, Sis Lena. I want your help.” Ren drove straight to his main goal.

“Um… How can I help you?”

“I want to meet the Divine Emperor. Do you know any method?”

“Eh? Eeeehhhh?” Lena gawked. Upon registering the request, she vigorously shook her head.

“No! You cannot meet the Divine Emperor. You need-“

“I know that. I’m asking to know if there is any method to obtain the summons from the emperor. This is very important to me.” Ren desperately asked. If Lena didn’t know the answer, he had to search elsewhere. His life depended on it!

“Uhh… There is a way, but, um... No, never mind.” Lena hesitated midway and stopped. Looking at Ren, she felt that her idea was impossible.

“Sis Lena! Please don’t hold back any information. I must know about this!” Ren's voice possessed a hint of desperation.

Lena froze. Seeing the panic on Ren’s face, she felt disheartened. In the end, she chose to reveal her thoughts.

“The Trial of Righteousness. If you complete it, the Divine Emperor will summon you to become a first-class citizen. But, with your strength, it is impossible.”

Ren frowned. Nevertheless, after regaining hope at life, he couldn’t abandon it easily.

“Sis Lena, please tell me more about this Trial of Righteousness.”