The silver man floated in the center of the cathedral, his pinstriped suit gleaming under the swirling stars. Even though his body was made of a liquid-like metal, he moved with the grace of an old-world aristocrat. He looked down at the thousands of lords, his gaze lingering for a split second on Z and then on the unknown human lord.
Z hissed, her violet eyes burning with ancient hatred. ''Vermin,'' she spat, the word dripping with more venom than her physical form could carry.
Leo glanced at her, sensing the shift in her aura. ''Do you recognize him?'' he asked. Unlike the hollow husks of other summons, Z's memory was a library of the cosmos's darkest secrets.
''It is not him. It is his kind,'' Z replied, her teeth baring. ''Be wary, human lord. These vermin are the Origin's favored lapdogs. They are the ultimate hypocrites—beings who preach balance while feasting on the resulting chaos.''
D5 checked his silver pocket watch with a rhythmic click. The sound was a death knell in the silence of the cathedral.
''Sovereigns of the Human Race,'' D5 announced, his voice smooth and cold. ''Before we begin, I must address an irregularity.'' He looked directly at Leo. 'He knows,' Leo thought, his pulse thundering. 'He knows I am an anomaly.'
With a casual flick of his fingers, the world fractured. Every summon in the hall vanished. The lords erupted in panic, reaching for powers that were no longer there.
''What is the meaning of this?'' Elias demanded, but his voice was lost in the din.
Leo felt a cold, hollow ache in his chest. Malphas had been his shadow since the beginning. Standing alone in this pit of vipers felt like being stripped of his armor.
D5 chuckled. ''Do not be so dramatic. Your pets are safe. We simply felt the competition lacked purity. Especially with our friend here...'' He pointed a silver finger at Leo. ''It hardly seems fair to the rest of you, does it?''
''Hahaha! Not such a big shot now, are you?" Steven mocked, his cowardice instantly replaced by a cruel confidence.
Leo ignored the barking dog. ''The system said there were no rules,'' he stated flatly. ''Why the sudden interest in fairness?''
D5 hummed, his silver lips curling. ''The Origin has no rules, true. But...'' He leaned forward, eyes flashing. ''I do.''
He was mocking Leo, showing him that in this cathedral, D5 was the only law. Leo's shoulders relaxed, his hands finding the comfort of his coat pockets. 'Right. Arguing with a Narcissistic is a waste of breath. If he thinks I am weak without my summons, let him learn the truth.'
''Now, for the opening act.'' D5 signaled toward the north. A massive, obsidian gate erupted from the floor, writhing with stone serpents. ''To open this gate, you must pay a tithe of five hundred souls from among yourselves. Each kill grants you points for the rewards shop. And the higher the talent, the richer the reward.''
The silence that followed was the sound of a thousand predators deciding who was prey.
''Monster...'' Luna whispered, her hand trembling. Hye-na moved instantly, pulling her friend into her shadow.
Leo watched the silver guide. D5 looked at the humans below like cattle meant for the butcher's block. The first minute was a stalemate of terror, but it broke with a spray of crimson. Steven Lockwood didn't hesitate, falling upon the commoner lords like a wolf among sheep.
A lord named Kael, possessing the A-grade talent [Shadow Step], saw Leo as his path to glory. He believed the mysterious lord was a toothless tiger. He moved through the carnage with practiced ease, his form flickering through spatial nodes. But he was blind to the [Cross of the Silent Throne] hanging from Leo's ear.
'Twenty meters,' Leo mused. The world was now a construct of pressure and aetheric heat. Through [Throne Perception], the 'invisible' lord was as obvious as a lighthouse in a storm. 'Ten meters. Five.'
Kael lunged, his dagger aimed for the kill. Leo didn't even turn around. In a blur of midnight silk, his right hand shot backward. His fingers, hardened by his bloodline and evolution, tore through the [Shadow Phase] as if Kael were made of wet paper.
SQUELCH.
The sound of shattering bone and tearing muscle was unmistakable. There was no exchange of blows; there was only the sound of a man's life ending. Leo stood perfectly still, his hand buried deep in Kael's chest. He felt the final, frantic thumps of the heart against his palm. With a casual, almost bored flick of his wrist, Leo wrenched his hand outward.
Kael fell back, staring at the hollow void in his chest before his vision went dark. Leo held the dripping heart aloft, the crimson blood soaking into the sleeve of his coat. He looked toward the silver guide.
''Is this the fairness you wanted?'' Leo scoffed, tossing the heart aside like trash. The lords surrounding him fled in a wave of panic.
D5 began to laugh manically, his hands clapping in a metallic rhythm. ''A clever move, young lord!'' He understood the performance. A lion rules the jungle through fear, and Leo had just branded his image into their souls.
Steven clutched his teeth, realizing that even without summons, the gap between them had only grown wider.
[You have received 150 points]
Leo wiped his hand and scanned the crowd. Support-type lords were being slaughtered, unable to defend themselves without their summons. He needed to find the worthy ones.
'Finally.' Leo's eyes turned cold, and he vanished from the spot, a shadow among the dying.
Amidst the swirling carnage, a tall, striking lord found himself backed against a marble pillar by three hunters. Their expressions were a frantic blend of desperation and fear.
The cornered man was lean, his long hair cascading to his waist. Despite his glass-like complexion, his bulging veins and defined muscles marked him as a survivor. He wore a simple green t-shirt, now damp with the sweat of the culling.
''Guys, give me a break. I have a measly F-grade talent. I am hardly worth the points,'' he said, offering a forced, desperate smile as he retreated.
The leader of the trio spat on the floor. ''Stop playing the victim, you snake. We saw what happened to the last lord who approached you. We are not falling for the act.''
Noel's cheeky grin flickered. ''I just got lucky, truly.''
An iron axe swung in a lethal arc toward his skull. Noel ducked, but a well-timed kick swept his feet from under him. He tumbled through the air, right into the path of another lord who was already bringing a longsword down.
Noel braced for the impact. 'What shitty luck,' he thought bitterly.
The blade never met his flesh. Noel opened his eyes to see the broad, imposing back of the Crimson Lord. Leo stood there in his Twilight coat, his bare hand clamped around the edge of the blade as if it were a wooden toy. The attacker was frozen, unable to pull the weapon back or even breathe.
Noel stared, captivated. 'My heart just skipped a beat. What the fuck is wrong with me?' he wondered, mesmerized by the cold, commanding pressure radiating from the man in the porcelain mask.
The other attackers hesitated, confused by the intervention. Leo did not look back at the man he had saved. He kept his grip on the sword and addressed the one holding it. ''What is your talent?''
The swordsman let out a shaky, confused laugh. ''What? Why does that matter? Get out of the way!''
''Your tricks do not work on me. So if you want to live, you had better answer truthfully,'' Leo said, the air around him thickening with killing intent.
The man gulped, and under the absolute clarity of Leo's Throne Perception, the illusion shattered. The swordsman's form morphed back into the real Noel. The lord lying on the ground transformed into the actual attacker who had been holding the sword.
Noel smiled, his legs trembling from the sheer weight of Leo's presence. ''Haha, I guess I can't hide anything from you. My talent is Trickster. I swapped places with him at the last second. I was going to see if I could take them out while they were confused,'' he explained with a sheepish, admiring grin.
Leo's eyes flashed a predatory red behind his mask. In a blur of movement, his Blood-chains lashed out, binding the three bewildered attackers before they could even think of fleeing.
Leo extended a hand toward Noel. ''Would you like to join my alliance?''
Noel did not miss the silent ultimatum behind the offer. He bowed deeply and took Leo's hand with both of his own, gripping it firmly as if anchoring himself to a storm. ''It would be my absolute honor, haha.''