As the beginning was already tough, Rhode, Bubble, and the rest were worried of what was coming next. But what surprised them was that the second stage was easier than expected. After Erin opened the door, she entered a library and a mysterious, heavy book embedded with a huge eyeball on its cover appeared before her, asking her questions. So at the end of the day, the second stage was a battle of wisdom?
This stage seemed ridiculously easy for Rhode and the others because the book mostly asked ordinary questions. Of course, Rhode admitted that those questions were still highly professional. Perhaps Erin would have had a hard time answering if she weren’t curious about archeology and the history of the Country of Darkness. But Rhode felt like it was too easy. Indeed, as a dragon soul heir, wisdom was essential. But was it necessary to know the answers to these questions? Why did it feel like Erin was in the examination hall for college admissions, but answering scripts of junior high school questions? Was it logical at all? Even Angelina could answer them from time to time. Could this be some kind of trap?
The unfortunate Angelina was unjustly ridiculed for doing nothing…
No matter what, she was a vampire of the first family. Surely Rhode wouldn’t think that she was totally illiterate, right? Vampires were even smarter than liches…
“Congratulations on passing the second trial.”
Of course, these questions didn’t pose a problem for Erin. The floating book announced the results before drifting away in silence. Creak… Along with its departure, the wooden door that was closed in the back opened. Erin was surprised because just like Rhode, she didn’t expect to pass the second trial so effortlessly. After all, it was too simple, and the book didn’t deliberately make things difficult for her. Could it be that the trials decided to go easy on her after witnessing the high difficulty of the first?
Rhode was also taken aback. He scanned the surroundings vigilantly. No wonder Erin acted so cautiously. Once bitten, twice shy. Erin was caught off guard by the trial twice, so she wasn’t surprised for a third. But this time, it ended so effortlessly. It felt as though one was ready to fight until the end and realized there weren’t any enemies ahead after being badly bruised along the journey…
What in the world is going on?
At this thought, Erin let out a sigh and sprinted. Since she confirmed that nothing was required of her in this place anymore, she passed through the wooden door and headed to the next trial down the flight of steps. In just a few moments, she arrived at the bottom of the stairs of the lower floor. At the same time, as though sensing her arrival, the pitch-black room emanated in spiritual flames. Shortly after, an enormous black and white chessboard that filled the entire space of the room appeared before her eyes, with all sorts of chess pieces above it. Along with Erin’s emergence, the knight mounting the obsidian warhorse, dignified king, and queen returned to both ends of the chessboard on their own. At that moment, a deep voice sounded.
“Welcome to the second trial…”
“What the heck?!”
This time, Rhode and Bubble couldn’t tolerate it anymore as they cursed. These trials were indeed despicable and shameless. There was an instant when Rhode felt like asking Erin to give it up. If she were to become a cunning and sinister person after inheriting the Dark Dragon’s soul, he would rather her not have it!
Isn’t it just the dragon soul power? We can go about using other methods. Must we torture ourselves this way?
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Unlike Rhode, who fully understood what the damn trial was all about, Anne, Cassidy, and Angelina stared blankly. Angelina blinked and looked around her in a daze, before asking with some hesitation.
“What happened? Wasn’t it announced that Her Highness Erin passed the second trial?”
“You simply believe what they said? Was your brain eaten by dogs?”
Upon hearing Angelina’s question, Mini Bubble Gum rolled her eyes in displeasure. Angelina was bewildered. However, she wasn’t a fool either. Shortly after, she returned to her senses.
But this is the inheritance ceremony… Isn’t this behavior too despicable?
“What? What? What’s going on?”
Anne was the only one who couldn’t understand the situation. She gazed around with a confused look on her face. Upon witnessing her puzzled expression, the kind Icy Snow explained to her patiently. Even though she was younger than Anne, she was a top player, after all, so she was naturally more familiar with this scenario.
“This was what happened, Big Sister Anne; the book lied to Big Sister Erin. In other words, that wasn’t the second trial. Maybe the book casually spoke and asked Big Sister Erin some random questions. That was all to it. That is why…”
“So that wasn’t the second trial at all, but a scam instead?”
Anne widened her eyes in shock. On the other hand, Rhode felt strange as to why the contemptible trials lowered its difficulty all of a sudden. After hearing the announcement, Rhode reached a conclusion.
The trial has been waiting for her here!
At this thought, Rhode felt even more ridiculous. Erin was simply being played. Not only did the trial not give her a normal process, but it also misled her on purpose and clouded her judgment. If anything were to go wrong, perhaps Erin might not even pass this stage!
“What is gonna happen to her?”
Upon learning Erin’s predicament, the rest knitted their brows and discussed worriedly. Anne was apparently the most agitated because she hated betrayal and lies. After hearing Icy Snow’s explanation, Anne swung her tiny fists, putting up a furious expression.
“Who cares about them. Her Highness Erin can just charge her way through and kill whoever stands before her. She doesn’t need to waste her time with them!”
“I don’t think that will work. Since it’s a trial, there must certainly be measures in place to stop her from doing so. Perhaps that might even trigger some traps and as soon as Her Highness Erin breaks the rules inadvertently, harsh punishment will be waiting for her. She may even be judged as failing the trial!”
However, facing Anne’s suggestion, Angelina had a totally different view.
“That is too risky. Her Highness Erin might as well continue the trial normally, since the questions aren’t too challenging. If Her Highness Erin passes them one after another…”
But before Angelina completed her sentence, Mini Bubble Gum disrupted her words domineeringly.
“Continue the trial normally? How much time do you think we can afford to waste? What if she has to answer a question on each floor… Do you know how many floors there are in the tower?”
“About that…”
Facing Bubble’s retort, Angelina was stupefied. Even though she didn’t know how many floors there were in the tower, but they had clearly witnessed that there were at least 100 to 200 of them. Only God knew exactly how tall the tower was.
Earlier on, Erin spent almost half an hour answering the book’s questions. If this amount of time was used to pass a trial, it would be worth it. But if it weren’t, it would be a waste of time! It was just like how one was advancing through an obstacle course, only to waste half an hour on a single obstacle! It was entirely time-wasting!
If Erin were to do it according to Angelina’s way, perhaps she might take 20 to 30 years to complete the trial, not to mention 20 to 30 hours.
Not only that, but the most important thing was also the hidden purpose behind it.
“Erin is flustered.”
Rhode spoke softly, while Bubble who stood beside him nodded with a grim expression. Erin wasn’t a fool. She recognized the problem immediately. It was apparent that this was also a type of trial to test whether she could distinguish between true and fake trials. The tower had a few hundred floors, but every floor would solemnly inform her of which trial it was. Erin would need to judge the matter on her own. It was obvious that this was an essential factor in inheriting the Dark Dragon’s power. In the event that this happened during ordinary days, perhaps Erin could take her time to view the situation. But now, she finally revealed a confused look.
It was apparent that Erin also thought of what came up in Rhode’s head. What was more ridiculous was that this trial might run through from beginning to end, all the way until she completed the trials to be considered complete. In that case, it was undoubtedly a huge mental pressure for her. But Rhode also knew why this trial was necessary. After all, the Country of Darkness was a nation of sly, cunning undead creatures. If the dragon soul heir wasn’t capable of searching for the truth, he or she would turn out to be a manipulated puppet like Lilian even after the dragon soul power was inherited.
But this trial is too goddamn sick!
Rhode believed that if he were in her shoes, he definitely wouldn’t be able to suffer in silence. He suspected that Ion was already aware of the trials, which was why he avoided taking them and chose to steal the Dark Dragon’s power instead. Because he couldn’t possibly pass the trials… No, perhaps not even players could succeed!
But now wasn’t the time to consider these issues. The main problem was that Erin was starting to panic. Normally, she surely wouldn’t lose her head out of fear. But the problem now was that she was pressed for time! If she didn’t complete the trial in time, her mother would be executed. This external, limitation factor gave her additional burden and pressure. And now, the pressure took shape before everyone in the worst way possible.
“Don’t panic, Big Sister Erin.”
Icy Snow clenched her fists and gazed worriedly at Erin through the magical crystal. Icy Snow was kind and despite speaking to Erin only a few times, she had a favorable impression of this big sister who always put up a gentle smile. Now that Erin was in a horrible situation, what could she do to face the challenge?
What should I do?
Erin puckered her brows at the chessboard in front of her. She saw through the hidden conspiracies and rules. The Dark Dragon’s trials were indeed arduous. As a matter of fact, upon realizing this point, Erin was also caught off guard. Indeed, she didn’t have any answer to this situation. But…
Calm down. Think. I’m sure there are some ways… Right!
At this thought, her eyes glinted. She stepped onto the chessboard in a large stride.
Upon witnessing her action, the rest stopped bickering and observed the moon princess anxiously, curious as to what she would do to tackle the problem. The moment she stepped onto the chessboard, the deep voice echoed again.
“So, are you ready, Challenger?”
“No.”
To everyone’s surprise, Erin shook her head with might. Then, she looked up and stared at the chessboard, as well as the enormous chess pieces that were two to three meters tall.
“I’m not interested in such a boring game. I demand that these meaningless sounding-outs end immediately!”
Everyone was stunned by her remarks, where even Icy Snow and Mini Bubble Gum became wide-eyed. Rhode was the only one who nodded in admiration. There would always be more than one way to resolve a problem, but one had limited vision, after all. That was why the decisions everyone took were different. Angelina and the rest were natives of this world, so they naturally considered the issue from a certain angle. Even though Mini Bubble Gum and Icy Snow were players, they were also restricted to their personal experiences too. It was just like an RPG, where one had to gather intelligence from pubs, obtain directions from a senior, enter the cave to crush the demon king’s critters, before forming a party to defeat the demon king. This was the limitation of players. In their heads, processes were limited, while experience only came into play within the framework.
But there was a certain presence that was above players.
Cheats.
What were cheats?
Cheats were when one entered the beginner village, keyed ‘SHOW ME THE MONEY’ in the input box, used the bags of gold to buy a bunch of godlike equipment, smash the fog enchanted field, and crush the demon king with a shield that had immunity against all damage and a mighty sword that could slaughter anyone. The entire process took less than 10 minutes!
Those were cheats!
And dragon soul heirs were beings of the same level as cheats! They grasped and manipulated powers. Under the dragon soul protection, they were the Creator Gods. They could do whatever they wanted or change whatever they desired. For instance, one could turn the people in one’s territory into adorable young ladies the next morning or perhaps …
Doing whatever one wanted was the true essence of being a dragon soul heir. And if one were to only use one’s power, what was the difference between one and a dependent of dragons? The reason why this trial posed so many tough problems for Erin was to act as a test of her awareness. That’s right. She would be the Dark Dragon, the dragon soul heir. She would be the one and only ruler of the Country of Darkness—the supreme dominator. Logically speaking, she should be the one ordering others to run errands for her and not the other way around! And now, it seemed like Erin realized the true meaning behind it.
“How dare you!”
While Rhode nodded and praised Erin for her quick reaction, the deep voice reverberated again. Along with this furious snarl, the tall chess pieces around her came alive. Be it black or white, they raised their weapons and pounced on Erin!
“Hmph!”
Gazing at the actions of the chess pieces, Erin felt delighted instead of fear. She evaded the assault of an obsidian knight and flourished her sword upward, slashing a beautiful arc that split the ambusher into half. She turned around, tapped her toes on the chessboard gently, and sprung up into midair in a somersault, before landing a kick on a soldier in heavy armor. Erin might be petite in size, but her strength was hundreds of times stronger than humans. Facing this attack, the soldier flew back instantly, crashing unto the other chess pieces that were attempting to encircle her. At that moment, Erin slanted her body to dodge the arrows fired by the archers in the back. Her eyes glinted in an ice-cold flash. She rotated her wrist, gripped the hilt with both hands, and punctured the blade into the chess piece before her.
Boom!
Along with a thunderous explosion, the power of darkness proliferated in all directions. In an instant, the sturdy chess piece dissolved, fell apart, and crumbled completely. The other chess pieces stood unsteadily as some even collapsed on the chessboard.
Shortly after, dark brilliance escaped the cracks of the chessboard. At the next moment, the black light column enfolded everything.
After the radiance dispersed, the entire room was emptied. Be it the chess pieces or the chessboard, none of them remained, leaving Erin alone quietly in the uninhabited space. But unlike before, a pair of dragon wings had expanded on her back, emanating a dense, black brilliance.
