"You called, Escanor?" A girl capable of toppling nations with her beauty suddenly asked. Her face carried a special sense of dignity, and her aura felt refined. Her light-brown hair shone to the others in the room. It was Melissa Smith, the current heir of the Smith Family, and the young lady of the Kyrios Family, which was also the main family in the Smith Household.
"Yes, my lady. It seems a few of your acquaintances have decided to attempt to enter the household." The man named Escanor said, kneeling to their young lady. He closed his eyes and waited for Melissa to utter the words, 'Rise'.
"Rise, Escanor. Which one of my acquaintances is it?" Melissa asked. Escanor quickly rose from his position but did not dare to look Melissa in the eyes. Under her gaze, he seemed like a cow waiting to be slaughtered.
"It is the King of Indifference and the King of Bravery, my lady." He said these words in a more polite tone than before. Her cold eyes had reminded him of the fact that he was a mere butler, while she was the soon-to-be queen of the household.
"Ace and Leo… why would they seek the household?" Melissa mumbled. Instead of predicting, Escanor motioned for the other people in the room to stand.
"Well, it is good news, I suppose. I also have something to ask of them." She muttered, directing her gaze towards the screen, which clearly displayed the two about to enter the abyss.
"I hope you can enter without losing your life in the process."
*
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*
"Can we just go back?" Leo asked Ace, who seemed lost in his thoughts as he stared into space. The former was literally shivering in fright as he walked alongside the latter, traversing through a dark space.
Despite their eyes being open, they were blinded. Realizing this, Ace quickly ignited a tiny orange flame in his hand so as to give them a small field of vision.
"Even if we wanted to, we can't." Ace said casually as he leisurely pointed towards the door, which wasn't visible anymore. No, it felt like the door did not exist, as if they hadn't entered through a gigantic wooden entrance.
"If I somehow survive this, remind me to never return," Leo said as he frantically looked around. Despite having destroyed countless spectres that could be considered ghosts, he was still spooked whenever he thought of them. Also, darkness itself feels terrifying when one can't control it.
"I don't think Melissa is cold-hearted enough to let us die here," Ace retorted, trying to sound optimistic.
Leo rolled his eyes at the comment, which seemed as bizarre to him as a dog winning a fight against a hippo. There was no way Melissa, the so-called female heartbreaker, would ever rescue them, even if she desperately needed them. Leo believed her to be even worse than Lily sometimes.
"Dream on."
"Hold on…" Ace suddenly said, his eyes narrowing to slits. He stopped immediately and examined the space they were in, eventually extending his arm to his scabbard. He sighed when he realized it wasn't there.
"To what? What do I hold on to?" Leo asked, perplexed. He kept walking, unlike his friend, who had noticed something different.
"Shut up, Leo." Ace immediately shot him down, closing his eyes to try to sense something amiss. Leo, having noticed the tense atmosphere and aura he was exuding, immediately shut his mouth and focused on locating and figuring out what was wrong.
Silence descended atop the dark space as both Ace and Leo closed their eyes. They stood still with not even a bit of movement, trying to use their five senses to detect "something". It was a fluctuation in mana, and it felt like someone was planning to attack them but then changed their mind.
The fluctuation, however, was complex. The mana released wouldn't even amount to the mana used by an F- Rank. This was why Ace believed it to be confusing to the point where he could not even predict what was happening.
"Ace, there's nothing here." Leo protested after trying to sense something amiss for ten whole minutes. He had searched with utmost concentration and focus, but could not detect anything that would potentially threaten them. No, he hadn't managed to detect anything at all.
Ace sat cross-legged as he motionlessly spread a tiny bit of mana as far as he could. The mana diffused, spreading for countless meters. It was not opaque either, but translucent that was on the verge of becoming transparent.
"Yeah, there's no 'one' here." A smug grin blossomed on Ace's face as he stared at a seemingly random spot amidst the abyss that surrounded them.
"What do you m–" Before Leo could finish his sentence, his eyes widened as he shrieked in fear.
Several figures were highlighted in the darkness. Leo hadn't been able to see them before, so he guessed they revealed themselves after Ace pointed at them. Still, it was horrifying that they could have killed him at any point if they desired to.
"It's an honor to make your acquaintance, King of Indifference." One of the figures said in an emotionless tone. Their bodies were still shrouded in darkness, and the only visible parts were the eyes and mouth, which were lit up by a yellow hue.
The aura they radiated, the strength in their voice, and the aura they exuded went to confirm the fact that they were monstrous. There was no possible method of defeating them, and both Ace and Leo knew that. Despite the former's capability of being able to rival those above his rank, he truly felt that he would lose instantly.
Noticing that they wouldn't receive a response, the figure then lightly tapped his chest, causing a shroud of darkness to evaporate. As the figure's body was revealed, Ace and Leo were shocked to notice the feminine appearance. It seemed that contrary to his previous voice, the figure was, in fact, a woman.
"Greetings. I am a maid of lady Melissa, Jane Miller." She said, in a feminine voice this time. She was dressed in a maid outfit, but no one paid mind to that. She then flicked her wrist, causing the shroud of darkness to disappear on the bodies of the others.
There were 2 butlers and 2 maids, all dressed in a fashion that suggested they were still at work. Leo couldn't sense it, but Ace easily noticed that the butlers carried spears, while the maids carried rapiers.
'I can't show any hostility.' That was the conclusion Ace came to. If he dared to show any hostility, he could incur the wrath of the Smith Family, which he wanted to avoid by all means necessary.
"Greetings. I am Ace Ambrosia, the King of Indifference." Ace said, bowing slightly. He then glanced at Leo, who grumbled before greeting them, too.
"Why have you come here?" One of the butlers asked. He was a burly man in a tophat, and wore a black suit. His gaze was sharp and he seemed incredible on guard, as if he was waiting for them to attack.
Another one of the butlers, a thin man with blonde hair, stepped up to apologize for the burly man's rude behavior. "Forgive him. He's a little shy around strangers."
Ace nodded politely, while the burly man glanced at Leo, sending shivers down his spine. There was a moment of silence afterwards, possibly due to the awkward nature of their meeting. Finally, to break the silence, Jane Miller stepped up.
"I do not intend to pry into your business, as I am only a maid. However, if you wish to enter the household, you must complete the Triangle Trial."
Perplexed by her words, Ace and Leo tilted their heads, as if to motion her to elaborate. Jane nodded with an emotionless expression, walking over to an area that seemed completely ordinary. However, as she tapped on the invisible wall with her right index finger, a screen suddenly emerged from the darkness.
"The Triangle Trial is a set of three trials intended to test the strength and worthiness of a stranger entering the household. It was designed by the 7th head of the Smith Family, and has been continued over the generations as a means to entering the mansion for the first time. Since it aligns with the nature of the members of the family, it has not been altered in any way since the time it was established."
*
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"Hey, do you think we'll be able to return without attempting the trial?" Leo asked as they walked along the dark path, unable to see or sense anything in their surroundings. After explaining the contents of the trial, the maids and butlers had disappeared, and Ace and Leo hadn't seen them since.
It had been an hour or so since they began walking, but they hadn't found anything yet.
Ignoring Leo's words, Ace said, "It's an illusion."
"What?" Hearing a different response than he had expected, Leo halted his steps, looking at Ace who had supposedly made a discovery.
"This place is an illusion."
After hearing the contents of the first trial, Ace had been trying to inspect his surroundings. The purpose of the first out of the three trials was to escape the darkness, but that seemed to be more difficult than they first thought.
However, if it really was an illusion, Leo believed it might not be too difficult to escape.
"Really? Can't we, you know, break it?" Leo asked, eager to know the answer. He had experienced illusions before and could easily destroy one if it ever came to it.
"Normally, yes…"
"Then let's do it!" Leo announced, forming an equilibrium of dark mana inside his body before ejecting it simultaneously. His purpose was to forcefully dispel the mana was overloading it or breaking the system.
Ace, a little surprised by Leo's reckless behavior, watched as he inspected the situation. Leo's words were true. If it was an illusion, the best way to escape would be to destroy it using a forceful method. However, if that truly was the case, wouldn't the trial be too easy? Would the Smith Family truly let such an easy trial stay?
Ace didn't even know if the trial was scaled by the rank or if the trial was the same for all who attempted it.
Crack!
Ace and Leo immediately turned their heads towards the noise of the cracking, only to see a tiny scratch on the illusion itself. However, as a couple of seconds passed, the scratch disappeared, and it felt like it had never existed.
"Regeneration… is someone actively supplying mana?" Leo suggested, causing Ace to nod.
"It seems like it. No, maybe it's consuming mana from a specific container designed to prevent it from breaking."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe there's a definite amount of mana stored somewhere, which is powering the supply of the illusion. Maybe we can break it if we make the illusion consume all that mana." Ace responded, causing Leo to fall into deep thought.
"I don't understand."
Facepalming, Ace walked over to what seemed like the middle of the illusion. He glanced at Leo with a ridiculous expression before sitting down cross-legged.
"Think of it like this. The illusion is simply borrowing power from an external source, and if that external source runs dry, the illusion is then discontinued." Ace explained in a simple definition, causing Leo to raise his head slowly as if he's achieved enlightenment.
"But what about if we just let it run? Won't it eventually run out of power?"
"That could be the case, yes. But do you think they would give us a trial in which we have to simply wait?"
Ace's logic did make some sense, although it was a bit far-fetched. His reasoning of the Smith Family not giving an easy trial seemed accurate to Leo, however.
"So we use explosive strength using mana?" Leo asked, summoning a fairly large quantity of mana. As it wiggled around in his palm, it seemed like it were actually alive.
"Basically, but I don't know how effective that will be. Despite that, we still have to try something, or else we might actually lose our lives here." They both knew the gravity of the situation and what they had gotten themselves into. Ace expected this, but Leo regretted following the former into such a dangerous place. However, he couldn't argue at this point, since it would only hinder their collaborative tasks.
Not responding to Ace's words, Leo sat down next him in the same position. They both closed their eyes, and Ace's figure turned purple while Leo's figure turned black. Ace utilized aether, while Dante, who was controlling Leo, utilized the property of night to try to forcefully destroy the illusion.
"Let's begin."
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"Escanor, what are those two energies?" Melissa asked as she stood in an upright position, maintaining her stance as the heir to the family. Since she was the supposed next head of the family, she had to prevent herself from slouching even a bit.
"Purple and black… I can see the destructive nature, but I don't sense anything." Escanor responded, causing Melissa's eyes to turn wide. Escanor was one of the strongest in the entire faction, being a high-ranker. He was also the third strongest in the family. If he couldn't sense the energies, the two had truly surpassed the realm of students in Melissa's eyes.
She had always known there was something different about Ace, but it seemed Leo had similar potential. They were both monsters in their own right, at least compared to students of the academy. Despite their lacking strength when comparing with rankers or high-rankers, they were still one of the fastest growing and strongest students on Earth.
Even among other species that resided in the Neutral Faction, Melissa truly doubted there was someone their age who could put up a fight against the two. The only person she could think of was Luna.
She never particularly liked Ace and Leo, nor did she want any connection with them. However, seeing their strength in action today, she had the urge to turn them into allies, so that they could quicken the process of her ascending into the position of head of the family.
"However, I notice faint traces of mana which they seemed to have combined with those unknown energies. Never mind the King of Bravery, but wasn't the King of Indifference supposed to be a swordsman, my lady?" Escanor asked, his eyes widening. It was fine was Leo, who used his fists to fight instead of a weapon. But Ace, who was regarded as a swordsman, should not be able to produce so much power through a type of energy.
"Indeed. All of the battles I have spectated show Ace to be a swordsman. His combat strength is based on speed, not destructive power…"
"Then, how…"
"It seems there are still things we don't know about the King of Indifference. Just like how he returned from the dead." Melissa said, concluding the discussion. She did not wish to continue a fruitless discussion which would get them nowhere in the end. For now, they had to spectate the trial.
"Do you think they'll be able to survive, lady Melissa?"
"I truly hope so."
*
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*
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
As several cracks appeared on the illusion itself, a wide grin emerged on Leo's face. However, it quickly disappeared with the cracks regenerating almost immediately after their creation.
"How long… has it been?" Leo asked Ace, who still sat calmly. The former of the two was incredibly exhausted and on the verge of collapse. The latter was no better. However, Ace could conceal his emotions, unlike the lanky-armed individual who only had 16 years of life experience.
"I'm not really sure. However, we have to be getting closer. Would [Infinity of Darkness] help?" Ace asked, trying to think of solutions. However, Leo shook his head, saying it was only a container of mana that prevented it from dispersing into the environment.
"Then, all we can do is wait," Ace announced in a dejected voice. The wait and slow progress was getting on his nerves too. Moreover, despite using every single energy in his arsenal, he couldn't destroy the illusion. Ace wondered how others had passed this test, or if they even had.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
"Hey… aren't the cracks appearing more frequently now?" Leo said, pointing towards a new crack that hadn't been there a second ago. It was almost invisible to the naked eye, but Ace and Leo could easily see it.
"Yeah… this might be a sign."
As soon as Ace said those words, he froze. His body then trembled, as he shakily pointed towards a certain spot hidden in the darkness. Leo, confused by his sudden action, turned around to look.
As soon as he did, however, cold sweat dripped down his back.
Drip!