With tension thick in the air, the princess quickly glanced at the section of the document that had caught the marquess's attention.

"Envoy, offer the human what rightfully belongs to him," the princess commanded.

The envoy appeared visibly disgruntled. "There's no need to offer him anything if he doesn't join our cause," he retorted firmly.

The Silver Lions, astute creatures, sensed the lie as his pulse quickened. They decided to press further, moving into an attack position.

The princess, unaware of the envoy's internal struggle, urged again, "Listen, despicable wretch, I have no intention of returning empty-handed when I can fulfill my mission now. Do not let your stupidity cost me my life. Complete the mission and give the human what is rightfully his," she said, stealing quick glances at the document.

She had noticed that the document instructed the delivery of certain items to the human. Though it didn't specify what they were, it mentioned a kind of ritual. That was the only reason she hadn't decapitated the envoy yet – she didn't know what to do or hand over, and she still needed the human for that.

"No need to rush. The human will be dead anyway if he doesn't accept our offer. It's only a matter of time," the envoy declared.

The princess finally had a revelation. The envoy believed Alex was running on borrowed time and needed what they possessed. However, his great mistake was that Alex was unaware of it, and the princess had caught onto this.

"Fool, we will die long before he does if you continue with your nonsense. Besides, what makes you think we are the only ones trying to give him his reward? Numerous factions are competing, and most of them must have followed us. If we don't conclude our business now, there will be no later," the princess yelled, grabbing the envoy by the neck.

Eventually, the princess pushed the envoy to the ground, and lying there, he pondered his situation for the first time. He thought the forest was incredibly weak right now, and the empire could easily invade it. However, it was also true that he wouldn't live to witness it. Fear began to grip his heart like a raging fire.

Seeing the Alpha Moonstalker approach to observe the young human intensified the feeling of despair. Throughout the mission, she had felt a sense of superiority dealing with a human without any backing. Now, she realized how this human seemed to have the support of the forest and its creatures, something not to be taken lightly.

"Fine, I will perform the ritual," the envoy said in a loud tone, unsuccessfully trying to hide the panic as the lions continued to approach from all angles.

"I already said I won't accept anything from Sera and her dogs. Leave," uttered an exhausted Alex, who had been sitting for a long time. Fatigue had overcome him, and though he tried to appear dignified, he had no energy left to control his body.

The princess made a quick visual gesture to the marquess, who understood immediately.

"Sir Alex, there's no need to rush. You should know that it was never our intention to antagonize you. The envoy does not follow the princess and acted on his own. However, she brought a goodwill present," said the marquess, snapping his fingers.

In moments, a small group of five gnolls was pushed forward to stand before everyone.

Alex observed the gnolls with curiosity. There were four well-preserved male gnolls, obviously warriors, surrounding and protecting an old gnoll in the center.

"Who are they?" Alex asked in the gnoll language.

The gnolls were surprised to hear someone speak their language. The old gnoll took the initiative to introduce herself.

"My name is Atarra, and these are..." Before she could finish, Alex interrupted.

"You're the matriarch of the Ra clan."

"Yes, young human. How do you know about us?"

"Atasha told me about you," Alex concluded, then looked at the marquess and said, "Release them."

The marquess understood that Alex accepted the goodwill gesture and gave orders to free all the gnolls from their chains.

The gnolls, now free, were about to attack the elves who had mistreated them during the journey or those who had seen their brethren used as flesh shields. However, the matriarch quickly understood why they had been released and called them back. All the gnolls gathered near Alex, and though they were truly terrified of the surrounding beasts, they trusted the matriarch. She, in turn, trusted the human, as gaining the trust of another matriarch was no easy feat.

With this, Alex nodded and approached the envoy, who had started preparing the ritual. It involved drawing magical symbols on the ground followed by presenting small tokens that looked like children's toys. These represented a crown, a sword, armor, and a bundle of tied scrolls.

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Rituals involving the magic of the world could be understood by all intelligent beings. Gnolls, elves, and forest creatures alike paid attention to what unfolded before their eyes.

"In this ritual, my name does not matter, for as Sera's envoy, I represent her and speak on her behalf," began the envoy.

"Alex Hughes, Earth human, your performance in the Earth trial stood out above all your peers. For this reason, the Human Authority considers you its property," unintelligible noise, "however, in your absence, it could not remain undelivered as it represented a setback to all humanity. Do you accept this outcome?"

"No."

"Alex Hughes, you are the first to reject a primordial invasion during your trial in your native world," unintelligible noise, "do you accept to surrender the gifts of corruption to save the world and receive an equivalent reward?"

"No."

"Alex Hughes, you were the most outstanding warrior during the Earth trial, fighting against hordes with great valor and courage, demonstrating your ability to adapt," unintelligible noise, "do you accept to join Sera's Celestial Order to protect this world from the creatures of chaos?"

"No."

By this point, Alex understood what was happening. Between each sentence, there was a brief moment of less than half a second where valuable information was likely being delivered, information that Sera didn't want him to know. However, Alex had a feeling he already knew. In his exchange with the host of civilization duels, the host emphasized that any prize acquired from the system belonged to him and couldn't be taken or withheld. So what Sera had done was illegal, and it must have consequences.

Due to these consequences, she had to organize this whole charade. What astonished Alex was how shameless they were in trying to continue scamming him and taking what rightfully belonged to him, or worse, chaining him to their cause.

Although now he knew they couldn't deny him anything, he had no problem with it. Even though for others it might seem like Alex had renounced all his rewards, deep down, he knew that once everything was over, they should reward him equally.

The envoy was visibly angry, to the point of being furious. In normal circumstances, he would unleash a tirade about how the human was a mere worm. However, the ritual bound him to Sera's will, and he couldn't deviate from the script given for this ritual.

He waited exactly 10 seconds for Alex to change his response, and when he didn't, he continued with his part.

"Alex Hughes, accept these spiritual treasures for your merits. First, your Sovereignty over humans will be recognized, officially making humanity have two recognized monarchs and entering a period of internal conflict," the envoy projected his energy and conjured a soul projection in which he lifted the small toy crown, transforming it into its spectral version.

Alex, being weak and not knowing how to project his soul at will, faced a real problem.

At that moment, little Lunaria noticed Alex's issue. She jumped off his lap and went to the alpha of her kind, scratching his leg twice.

He was annoyed by the little feline's behavior but advanced to help his human. The alpha projected his own soul and, with it, touched the back of Alex's head, forcing his soul projection.

Though surprised by what was happening, the envoy didn't give much time for Alex to understand anything. He proceeded to crown the young human and then continued.

"For your total victory in the Earth trial, you are recognized as the vanguard of Glamoria," the envoy said, picking up the small sword that transformed into a beautiful and sharp spectral sword presented to Alex.

When he took the sword, Alex felt a flood of knowledge entering his mind. Now he better understood the origins of the Eldritch and why he needed to prepare. However, this knowledge no longer caused him anxiety. He now knew it wasn't a one-sided fight, and he could also bring the war to them.

"As the best warrior of your native world, you are rewarded with weapons and armor befitting your class and title. Unfortunately, both have already been delivered during your absence. As rectification, a higher-level prize will be given to you," the envoy had a grin from ear to ear as he turned the small armor toy into ashes, transforming it into an orb.

At this prize, all the alphas present reacted with a look of aversion, wanting to intervene and prevent Alex from accepting it. However, they couldn't say or do anything. They knew it was an incomparable amount of raw soul energy, and in normal circumstances, they would fight to the death to obtain it. However, this same treasure could quickly lead to death or, worse, madness for someone of lower level. The principle was the same as a plant dying from too little water but also dying from drowning in it.

Alex received this treasure.

The envoy knew that having so much raw soul energy without refining it would soon start causing problems for Alex. In normal circumstances, he would be around to tie him to his faction, but this time, he felt aggrieved that the forest creatures would take the prize.

Unfortunately for the envoy, Alex was destined for great things. Contrary to what Sera had planned when she decided to give him such an expensive and hard-to-obtain gift, Alex had a way to use it. In fact, there was someone inside Alex thirsting for an opportunity like this.

Within moments of receiving the source of pure soul energy, one of the Lotus Flowers that Alex had received started draining the pure soul energy at an insane rate, leaving him with nothing in a short time and blooming until finally, a kind of metal pin representing the emblem of ashes emerged from it. It positioned itself at the level of Alex's soul's heart. Interestingly, it also manifested immediately on Alex's real body, and in the soul projection, one could see both the pin and the collar engaged in a confrontation.

Everyone around was surprised by what was happening, and although the envoy and the princess didn't have the necessary level to grasp the full situation, they were aware that Alex had once again greatly surpassed them.

The envoy went on and offered the last gift. However, at this point, Alex paid no attention to what was happening. He mechanically accepted the gift, as he was distracted by the brawl between his new pin and the collar.

Both represented two very different aspects of him – the pin representing his natural affinity with ashes' energy and his old world, and the collar representing his affinity with nature's energy and the forest, symbolizing the new world.

Both objects had engaged in a massive war to absorb the pure energy bestowed upon them. Although the pin had been the first to initiate the conflict, the collar had also taken part in it and hadn't fallen far behind in the race. For now, it had enough strength to suppress the pin.

Finally, the ritual was over, and everyone was amazed by what they had witnessed. The princess was extremely delighted to have fulfilled her mission, knowing that a great reward awaited her at home. Similarly, the marquess knew that he would finally have the tools to fulfill his personal mission.

Only the envoy was dissatisfied... and foolish enough to do something about it.