"Interference isn't allowed," an unknown voice echoed in the room of mirrors.
"But if it is you, then it is possible. There's no point in keeping up this farce. Just fail him," the Ashborn Family Lord said, without the slightest change in his expression.
For a long time, there was only silence.
"Just this once..." The silence was broken only by a long sigh. Following that, another long period of silence fell over the room of mirrors.
At the same time, another change occurred at the Awakening Ceremony. As if controlled by an unknown force, the giant centipede emerged from the clouds, flying down.
It was flying straight towards the pillar that Elias was climbing. Not only did the beast come flying with its giant body, but it also let out a powerful roar that sent a heavy gust of wind straight towards Elias.
Elias was climbing the pillar like a lifeless being in a daze. He came to his senses as he heard the roar, his body reacting instinctively.
He almost fell off the pillar, his grip weakening. Fortunately, he somehow managed to hold on even as his robe fluttered strongly with the wing like a flag.
That was just the beginning. The beast didn't stop and came straight down, its massive body flying past Elias, who was horrified but still didn't react as he had before.
The centipede flew past him, leading him to believe that it wasn't going to hurt him. They wouldn't allow interference in the Awakening Ceremony, after all.
However, he soon realized that he was wrong. Even as the centipede flew past him, its tail was different. Just as the tail was about to move past him, it struck him, sending him flying off the pillar.
Elias was sent flying through the air, with nothing to hold onto. From this height, there was no surviving the fall.
He was so focused on climbing the pillar that he hadn't seen what happened to the others who fell. He didn't see them being teleported to safety. He simply thought they had all fallen to their deaths, just like he was going to.
He was going to fall. He was going to die. This was it. He knew that he should have been scared, but he was strangely calm. He had been living on borrowed time anyway, hadn't he?
Maybe this was for the best. If he couldn't awaken a class, how could he have his revenge? He could only live as a weakling in this world, unable to do anything but watch his enemies enjoy their lives in luxury.
It was better to die than to live through that disgusting reality. He looked down and saw the ground rushing up to meet him, but instead of terror, he felt... calmness.
The centipede, satisfied with its handiwork, returned to the clouds, disappearing into the unknown.
The hooded figures below looked up, their faces hidden in shadow. None of them understood why the Academy Dean's pet had suddenly gone crazy, making a participant fail.
In any case, it wasn't something they had to worry about. They simply had to do the jobs they were assigned, which was to make sure no participants died during the awakening ceremony.
One of them left to catch Elias, his failure marking the end of the ceremony.
Elias closed his eyes, accepting the fate he had been granted. However, even as he closed his eyes, the scenes that flashed through his mind weren't of the life he had lived in this world.
He saw his real family, sitting around a dining table. His father was telling them about his promotion, and his sister was asking him to take them on vacation to celebrate.
As his father was about to agree, he suddenly started coughing. Everyone thought it was just a normal cough, but it never stopped.
At that moment, he didn't realize that his life was never going to be the same again. What about his next life? Was he going to be born in another similar world that was going to be toyed with like this?
"Gods are pathetic..." he mumbled under his breath, slowly opening his lifeless eyes.
He wasn't sure if the people from the Academy were watching him. Still, even in his death, he at least wanted to let out all his frustration, cursing them with all his might. For once, he wanted to act childish and stop holding back as there was nothing else he could do.
He took a deep breath, gathering every bit of strength possible.
"You-" he started roaring like an injured beast.
He had only uttered a single word when he saw the hooded figure teleport before him.
The hooded figure reached out his hand to grab Elias, who was so surprised that he forgot what he was about to say. Was he going to be saved? But was there even a point in surviving if he failed awakening?
He didn't know anymore. He simply saw the hooded figure reach out to him. Unfortunately, before he could even touch Elias, a lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking him.
The hooded figure lost all mobility, falling to the ground lifelessly. He wasn't the only one who fell.
In a secret realm of the Dimensional Academy, the Dean was sitting with a glass filled with the legendary dew of the life plant. She was about to drink it when she suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood, her face growing extremely pale.
Her eyes widened in horror, feeling her connection with her pet centipede being forcefully removed. There were only two ways to remove the connection, the fastest being to kill the contracted beast.
Everything happened so fast, that she was certain that someone had killed her pet beast. And with her contracted beast's death, she had also been injured.
"Who dares to kill my pet?!" She stood up, the corner of her lips still stained with blood.
She summoned a mirror and looked at the Awakening Ceremonial Ground where her beast was supposed to be staying.
She saw the giant centipede, falling from the sky. It didn't have even the slightest of life force. It was completely dead.
It was clear that her beast had been killed, but she couldn't see any culprit who was capable enough of achieving that. Was the person who did it, still hiding? She wondered.
"Do you think you can hide from me?!" A third eye opened in the middle of her forehead. "Let's see how long you can hide!"