Walking back from such a daunting challenge was objectively the correct decision. Despite how much of a battle maniac Arin was, he wasn’t going to willingly rush in at such a pointless endeavor.

He had always pushed his limits during combat. From a tender age, he had already started facing people much stronger than him. It had come to the point that he had also grown strong enough to stand atop the majority.

Even during his first encounter in Seal Academy, he had started fights that no normal person would ever start. From facing against other similarly terrifying opponents, he had always kept on going due to one simple fact.

He had assurance that he wouldn’t bite it.

All the fights he had taken might have seemed as dangerous but there wasn’t any true danger to him at all. His life wouldn’t be so easily snuffed out while he was in Seal Academy due to the special rules that worked inside there.

Everything up until this point had someone watching over him, letting him grow under careful observation. He had pulled out all the stops in order to take advantage of this and grow. This was the case for every single fight except for one.

There had only been two instances where his opponents had threatened him. The first one was when he faced those ‘traitors’ while he underwent his first Sephirah Trial. The second one was his battle against Fiona.

“Fiona…” Arin clenched his fists. His blood started boiling as he recalled the first fight that he hadn’t gotten any personal assurance of. There was a great possibility that he would’ve died that.

In the very first fight, he had thrown away any sense of self-preservation out the window in order to land a fatal fit back. He had no chance, completely no ability to fight back yet he persevered. Standing back up again and again, ignoring the wailing pains of his body.

As he turned his back on this ominous Bind-level Trial, he couldn’t help but gnash his teeth.

“Backing down? Me?” Arin’s eyes only saw red. The humiliation he had received as he was left at Fiona’s mercy started to writhe within his skin. He snickered, eventually laughing louder and louder until his voice started echoing out in the empty hallways of this underground prison.

“I’ve turned soft.” Arin faced the Bind-level Trial with a mad look in his eyes. His intent was clear. “If I deserve to reach the top then why should this stop me?”

Each of Arin’s steps weighed higher than the last. Every single motion of his seemed to have resonated with the whims of this cruel place. The marks he left behind seemed to have solidified, cementing his decision.

The shifting runes showed him the Sephirah Bind-level Trial that awaited him. This was the challenge that he should be unable to accomplish. Yet, there was hope.

Sephirah Trial: Uncovered Malice

Difficulty: Bind

Participants: 1

Restrictions: None

Goal: Kill the Intruder

Rewards: Personalized Secret Fragment

Sephirah: -681

۝̷̙̤̥̊͑́Ꞡ̸̛̥̖̱̯̈́͜ꝸ̴̦͐̏̿̕Ꙟ̵̤̰̲̤̈́̀͊̾ꓶ̸̨̠̫̰̘̽̋͌̑ⱴ̵̗͈͙̥̑̈́̋̃͗ꭁ̷̩̪̽̒̄͒̔ͅꭁ̸͇̜̀ἒ̴̹̲̳̺̥́̂̆͘͝ễ̴͔̞͂̅̎̀ج̵̻̇̒̀͊ݨ̸̗̺̪͗͒̽̿̕ڠ̸̬̖͊̊ջ̷̹͈̏͛̂͋͝ͅ۝̴̫̮͈̍̔͊͂̒

֍̸̰̫̮͖̇̇͐́̈́̂́̔۩̴͍͖̮̙͙͑̑̇͌́̓̎̒̾̉͋̆͝ͅڠ̶̡̰̞̩̟̬̪̭̫̬͖̹͈̋̅̃̅̈́̈͝Ⴟ̸̰̜̮̋͌̄̀̿͘ڀ̴̧̛̥̻̟̟̮̣̈́̂́̏̌͛̍̐͐͝ͅᴥ̶̨̢̯͙̪͙͓̬͔̿͛̍ﮮ̷͇̟̻̰͇͌̿͌͋͒́̋͊̐̊̈̌̚ͅﯚ̵̛̜̣̬̎͊͒͆̌̎̾̍̅ﺹ̸̢͖͚͉̤̖͉̬̟̭̈́̅ჭ̷̡͔̤͎͐̆͌́͗̄̅̍̚Ⴕ̵̼̱̘̫͙͆̆̈́̍͝֍̵̢͎̥̻̯͐̊̈́̿̽͆́̅́͝

Ѻ̴̢̭̪͔̤͈̳̩͍̥̥͓͙͛̃͝ԩ̶̧̱̟̣̣̻͖̖̹̭̗̇̈́̓́͝₰̴̤͍̰̦͕̲̬̐̐̇̅̈́́͂̕͝͝ꙮ̸̡̱͓̦̇͐̉̒͠͠ͅⴊ̷̛͓̟͍̗̼̟̯̦̪͓͇̇͛̀͋̀͛̓̈́̌̕ⴆ̴̢̨͈͕̩̙̮̳̳͖̀̾̄͘ᾈ̸̣̙̼̏͝Ꚍ̵̨̧̼̖̮͎͕̲̘̃͂͋͐̾͛̈́͛̕͝ﬨ̶̯̬̥̮̥̳͙͛̓͛͒́͆͒ﷺ̵̢̧̜͚̫̼͓̭̥̣̞̌̑́̐̿͜͜ﮃ̶̢̻̮̓̿ꜳ̶̢̣̜͇͎͙̣̰͚͓̱̱̙͒̒͒̀̊̍̊̏̆̅̒̔͠א̶ָ̧̳̣̼̗̘̒̉͜ﮋ̸̨̧̢̗͎͖͕̹̲̙̞͕́̌̚ͅპ̷̡̦̻̱̘̪̘̰͎̙͚̬͐̏̚̚͝Ჱ̵̡̢̻̲͔͙̿͋̈́́͋̆́ڄ̴̢̆̾͌̏Ყ̶̧̞͎̫̭̞̜̱͚̩͗͆̈́̊̆͆͐̑͂Ჱ̴̡̖͚̜͇͍̓̄͒͂̾Ә̵̛̛̟̹̭̙͔̣̟̲̬̽̀́̈̐̿̇͗͠Ԗ̷̨̪̻͉̯̮̻̉̈́ǂ̵͉̩̜̔̉̀̌ʢ̶̨̺͔͓̮͔̞͚͕̻̮́̇͌ͅ҉̷̡̢̯̩͓̖̘̫̦͍͎͚͋̃́̀̄̀͑͆̒̾͆͠

The wall of shifting runes made way for him as it turned to mist, enveloping his body with a faint bloody glow. An omen to how much of a mistake he had made.

The cursed armor before him started to laugh and mock Arin’s choice. Whispers of regret and malice filled Arin’s mind, full of the last words that its previous owners had spoken. Many had died regretful at not being able to finish their duty. Others had lost everything as they wallowed in self-pity until the end of their lives.

These pitiful voices were weak, barely able to make Arin flinch. The true voices that resonated with him the most were the ones that spoke of torture and sadism. The ones that wished to burn and kill the world, spreading misery as they walked this world.

Yet no matter how much these voices tried to influence Arin’s mind, they were clearly unable to. The mental barrier within his mind was far too mysterious. It was something innate, similar to Barlot’s strength and Elliot’s intellect. There was no rhyme or reason for him to have it, merely being blessed with it at birth.

“There are three ways to make a Fragment submit, through appeasing it, dominating it, or suppressing it. I’ve already made up my mind, I will take over this Fragment through sheer brute force.” Arin came over and touched the cold exterior of this demonic armor piece.

Cruel cackling echoed out, even causing the angel above it to slightly shiver.

From outside the Trial, Kian had already arrived. He rushed in to find out what had happened only to see everyone be so far away.

“Rion!” All Kian needed to say was his name. Rion immediately spilled everything that had transpired. He adopted the attitude of a humble servant, fearful of further angering Kian than he already is.

“Bring over all the Overlords, right now. It’s a waste but I won’t let my son die.” Kian immediately ran off to the Trial that had morphed into a disgusting mass of flesh. Everything pristine and elegant from its previous form was now an amalgamation of matter.

When Rion heard this, he wanted to speak out yet the slave mark on his forehead reacted. “As you wish.” Spreading out the vines in his control, he sent out the information to everyone else within the underground city. Information soon had spread out recalling the current heads of the city towards his location.

Kian wasted no time, taking out his Fragment and wearing it. He manifested his armor and immediately forced his Malum, creating numerous runes and glyphs all around the Trial. These were static and mundane but as Kian continued writing more and more, the power held within each individual written rune was growing in power.

The creation of each rune took a significant amount of Malum, despite being a Labyrinth Solver, Kian was already starting to feel weary from creating merely a hundred or so runes. He was working as fast as possible for he was afraid of what could happen if he didn’t act now.

The Overlords of the underground city quickly followed up and arrived at Kian’s location. They bowed before him in subservience.

“Draw out your Malum and power these runes! Ninety-nine per person! Anyone who fails will die by my hands!” Kian roared out. He was working non-stop, spewing out one rune after another.

The Overlords didn’t hesitate to help out. One of these Overlords was Lucas’ mother. As such, Lucas had also been called in, being dragged along for a task. He had been sparring with Sefi when he was called in. Which meant that he was slightly late. Rion also came to, with his position, he needed to work as well.

No one knew what was happening at this very moment except for Kian. All they knew was that this related to Arin. Whatever effect this mystical move had was beyond them. They didn’t dare to ask either as they feared that they might agitate Kian any further.

Seeing that he was already halfway done, his mood slightly improved as he was getting closer. There was a determined look on his face as he continued to supply the required runes one after another. Nearly reaching the end, Kian was about to add in the last few runes when an erratic change occurred.

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An explosion blew everyone away, destroying everything they had set up. All the runes that Kian had created were no longer there, broken and shattered pieces of the runes were left.

“No!” Kian’s guttural scream made everyone feel the weight of his emotions. With Kian’s mastery of Malum, he could influence people’s state of mind. As his Malum had been set loose, it invaded everyone’s minds, making them feel the very same as Kian did.

Without any exception, they all cried. Even though they didn’t feel the same emotional attraction towards Arin, they cried as if they had just lost someone dear to them.

As Fiona’s Malum had affected Arin’s ability to kill, Kian’s Malum had made everyone feel the despair and sadness he was going through.

The Maze-level Trial had changed and shifted to look much more sinister from before. If the Maze-level Trial had looked like an unknown ball of meat, it now morphed into an eye. It was a stationary eye that couldn’t see, merely representing the sudden increase in difficulty.

“The Maze-level Trial became… a Bind-level Trial…” Kian kneeled down in front of it. Not knowing why this had happened. “I was too late…”

“A #&$@%# Bind-level Trial…” Kian had spoken in a way that somehow prevented anyone else around him from understanding his words. The word ‘Sephirah’ was only silence in their ears, unable to interpret it.

From a further distance, Fiona felt shivers. She clearly knew just how terrifying a Sephirah Bind-level Trial was, after all, she had attempted one. If not for there being an alternative, she would’ve very likely lost her life. The dangers inside weren’t something that she wanted to face in the near future.

“Whoever’s going through that… I wish you the best. Please don’t die.” Fiona wished from the bottom of her heart. She didn’t want the person undergoing the Sephirah Trial to die so unjustly.

In another district, a young man who was grinning from ear to ear suddenly changed his expression into one of suspicion. He stopped meditating as he took this change much more seriously. He rushed out of his meditation chamber and donned some clothes.

A servant came from the side, “Master Virtule, leaving so soon?”

“I need you to find someone…” He snapped his fingers, gesturing for people to bring him his gear. “A Sephirah Bind-level Trial? What kind of psychopath is so willing to die? If I had to guess, the Moile family would be that desperate. Check if that branch family managed to succeed in their little experiment.”

A man walking just beyond The Boundary glanced behind him. “If you survive this… The implications would be immense.” This man noticed an incoming Pravum with an immense body reaching out to grab him. He merely tapped his finger as this Pravum was enclosed in black crystal, shattering into fine dust mere moments later.

Arin had his eyes closed, the internal conflict between him and this cursed piece of equipment was drawing to an end. The silence within this dreary room was deafening.

A young man and a Fragment in this room were standing still as if time had stopped for the both of them. But the mental battle between these two had reached the breaking point. The conflict between the two was reaching heights that could only be described as breathtaking.

Of course, the only person who could fully understand what was happening was Arin, himself.

All of a sudden, Arin’s eyes twitched. He slowly regained his vision from the darkness that had enveloped him as he battled the mechanical consciousness of the Fragment. Taking a deep breath and sighing, it could be seen that there were specks of silver being spewed out.

Alongside this breath was Fiona’s Malum, it had been purged from Arin’s system. Finally forming a bond with a Fragment, Arin could finally control Malum to his heart’s content. This finally unlocked the absurdly nonsensical ability of his, Perfect Affinity.

Perfect Affinity refers to how much one would be able to handle Malum. As Malum is the very essence of one’s influence, being able to handle your ego and retain yourself despite how overbearing the influence of the surrounding Malum trying to pry your sense of self away.

As Fiona’s Malum personified her beliefs and goals, it prevented Arin from killing, as per her firm belief. As Kian’s Malum made others cry, and feel the pain that he felt, he influenced their state of mind. The very essence of Malum is one’s self. Being able to keep yourself despite being rinsed time and time again.

For Arin to have Perfect Affinity, merely meant that he would retain himself despite how much he is corrupted, to never lose sight of himself. As he would never lose himself, he could never be mentally affected. Such effect stems from this one innate ability.

And who was he? A madman.

A madman that’s still alive despite all the odds stacked against him.

His control over the already plentiful Malum within himself was still at the novice level. He couldn’t perfectly manipulate his Malum to manifest his armor. This task required immense time and effort to do so, even with Arin’s Perfect Affinity, there is no shortcut to great power.

“Secret Fragment, Mantle of the Damned.” The information regarding this Secret Fragment entered his mind, it had quite a simple ability. “To seal someone’s soul at the cost of the user’s soul. A blatantly suicidal ability. What’s worse is that this is a one-time ability.”

Seeing the effects, Arin couldn’t help but madly laugh. This was essentially telling him to go sacrifice himself to bring the enemy down. This was a flawed Trial aimed at taking his life.

For the Mantle of the Damned to be here meant that some person sacrificed himself for the good of the kingdom. This meant that Arin was playing the part of the fool, to be used and discarded without another thought.

Feeling Malum surge throughout his entire body, he didn’t hesitate to start performing the only logical way to get stronger. The unowned Malum within his body was quickly integrated within himself, being used as nourishment for the Fragment.

Despite having a completely useless ability, a Fragment was required to be able to control Malum after all. He needed to make do with what he was given.

After learning the current way of strengthening himself after getting his Fragment from his father, he had already made a plan on how he was going to go about it. Unfortunately, this plan wouldn’t have been applicable here due to the circumstances.

Even so, Arin pushed through.

“After someone gets their Fragment, they could already use Malum but the hard part is what comes next. They need to solidify their Malum to the point that it becomes armor for the body. As Malum solidifies, the body proportionally grows in strength. This is Manifestation.”

Gathering the Malum within his body, he tried to do exactly what he was taught. He tried to compress the Malum within his body into a sphere. At that point, he would try to compress it further and further until something tangible came out of it. By the time he could create this tangible thing, he would be able to manifest a fraction of his armor.

This was what Fiona had done before. The ephemeral-looking armor piece she had was compressed to the point that a single finger of hers had increased power. She was still a fledgling in her control but she was already ahead of her peers in terms of strength.

Based on Arin’s experience, if he were to compare the angel and Fiona, it would undoubtedly be a close fight. This was considering Fiona’s inexperience and lack of ruthlessness. If she had decided to be much more decisive then it would be her victory.

“A step at a time. If I can’t even handle this one then I deserve to die!” Arin madly welcomed the Malum within his body and started compressing it.

Normally, one would need to take Malum from the outside world, slowly influencing it to be much more aligned with Malum. By taking Malum from the outside world, their very selves would also be influenced. If they merge it too fast or too rashly, they might lose their minds and go insane.

Fortunately, Arin already had a bunch of Malum stored within his body to be used for compression. He essentially skipped months of work by going inside one Maze-level Trial. Now that this was placed into perspective, it was understandable why Marlet, the Labyrinth Solver that had visited them before, was so keen on getting these Trials.

The rewards Arin managed to derive from just a few trips were already so fruitful. Although it hadn’t reached 50 grams of Essence in value, it was still a decent chunk of wealth. If he continued on doing more and more runs then he would easily push through 50 grams of Essence.

The voices luring and tempting him, trying to influence his actions were slowly dwindling. Now that Arin had completely taken over the Fragment, Mantle of the Damned, he could focus on compressing his Malum.

With no time limit, Arin had as much time in the world as he needed, or in other terms, as much time as his body allowed him. Despite having a way to strengthen themselves, Arin still needed to eat, his body was still mortal.

For his current self, he was still but a mere fledgling in front of the angel. If he wanted to stand a chance, he needed to grow stronger, much stronger than ever before. At the very least, he needed to make some kind of progress or else this was going to be his grave.

From the outside world, Kian was raging, he was trying to rip the Trial door open to no avail. Time had started ticking down, five minutes had passed, an hour, and eventually, it reached six hours. There had been no change at all.

Kian had been extremely depressed, feeling as if life as lost all meaning. He had started blaming himself for making such a mistake yet… it changed after so long. For the door to have not opened up meant that Arin was still alive inside.

From this one small fact, a tiny speck of hope grew within his heart. Despite logic telling him it was impossible for Arin to successfully do this Trial, he still believed. The Overlords of the city were waiting right behind Kian, who firmly believed that his son would return.

As Arin felt his throat dry, he sensed his progress and sighed. He was being held back. No matter how much he tried to reinforce and compress his Malum, he had met a bottleneck. This wasn’t due to his talent or his capability, it relied on something else.

“The body is the foundation, the Fragment is the fuel, the Combat Technique is the fire. No matter how much I try to compress my Malum, without a direction, there wouldn’t be any point.” Arin gritted his teeth.

Another six hours had passed. Arin had been stuck inside the Sephirah Bind-level Trial for half a day now. This entire time, he had been pressed into a corner, unable to progress in any meaningful way at all.

“Is there really… Is this how I’m going to go down?” Arin recalled the enemies he had faced. Most of them were nothing but thugs that couldn’t even harm him. Despite growing up and living by the ethics of the City of Sin, he was going to die in such a comedic way.

The thought of dying because of something he didn’t have completely irked him. He had no Combat Technique to use as the direction of his Malum. At this rate, he was going to lose it all.

“If I don’t have one… Then I’ll make one!” Arin roared out his conviction. The dangers of creating one was thrown out the window, if he didn’t make a desperate move then he’ll only lose his life. “I have only faced against three different Combat Techniques. The city’s Culled Future, Fiona’s Pure Maiden, and that girl’s Fluttering Shadow. So what if it doesn’t make sense? All I need is for it to work! Consequences be damned!”