Amelia’s small body flew in the air for a moment as Wei made a desperate attempt to reach her, but a massive explosion of blue sparks prevented him. The explosion was so violent and bright that for a moment, everything seemed to freeze before chaos ensued.

The figure of a small child with flowing auburn locks materialized from the sparks, and the sight of her could be described as none other than blinding. Her skin practically glowed white, and every detail glimmered like gold as she erupted from the wave of blue sparks.

Artemis.

How much spiritual power did she exhaust just to appear in the weak form of a child?

My eyes widened at the sight of the glowing, luminous girl lifting Amelia and gently setting her upon the serpent's head before pressing it with her own forehead; the serpent immediately slumped down.

With a deafening scream, the auburn-haired girl vanished in a flurry of yellow sparks, and a single star in the sky flicked out. The punishment for interfering so heavily in an early scenario would be absolutely detrimental, especially given Artemis’ power. She had clearly grown incredibly attached to Amelia during the short extent they noticed one another.

Observer 'Socrates': Jia Li... did you plan this?

Observer 'Socrates': You've sent the divinities into a flurry in heaven. They're astonished

Amelia weakly pressed the iron cuff to the tip of the sea serpent, and it quickly vanished, becoming no more than a silver engraving. Suddenly, the entire party was free falling straight toward the ground, shrieking and screaming, but Amelia made no sound. Her body was limp, and the blue sweatshirt was desperately trying to jerk her higher into the air, yet it was too difficult of a feat for a mere piece of cloth.

“Zhige! Get her!” I commanded, throwing the sword in her direction.

Zhige pierced through the coat and tried to lift Amelia up in the air, but even with their strength combined, the two struggled to offset her weight. I nervously looked down as my body hurdled toward the water.

You have received a new review!

4.5 / 5: Wu Peijin is wickedly cruel, and it is thrilling to watch her actions. However, I pity her party members. Even though she cares for Amelia the most, she was willing to sacrifice Amelia's security to boost her skill.

Lengthening his staff, Yang managed to hang onto it as the other half dug into the riverbed below. Wei grabbed onto his arm and swung below him before they both descended into the water below.

My limbs flailed in the air as I wrestled for my bag. Before I could pull my shield out, I felt a strong hand pull me in.

“Peijin,” Yue whispered, looking at me with a frightened expression. She held onto me tightly, yet we were both still hurtling toward the bay.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her, shutting my eyes due to the wind blowing debris into them. “I’ll break our fall. My physique level is high enough.”

Riding his staff, Yang reached out to grab onto Amelia, hooking her small and limp body into his arm. Wei, Amelia, and Yang soon crashed into the water with an explosive splash, but they quickly resurfaced alive.

I shifted Yue on top of me while lying in the inner curve of my shield. When we hit the water, the shield and I would break her fall, and if any of us were hurt, I’d use the potions collected from the last dungeon room.

My muscles tensed up as I prepared for impact, but suddenly the sound of crashing waves ceased and my back crashed into a hard metal surface. Blood spurted up from my mouth, and it felt as if every bone in my body shattered on the impact.

Observer 'Nipon23': Karma.

We were back in the train station, and I looked around to see the beast-themed chest beside me. Yue seemed unharmed as she crawled off of me, clutching her spear. I was splayed out like a starfish on the ground, and the entire impact was absorbed into the metal train rather than the rippling water I intended to land on.

“Amelia,” I groaned, trying to sit up despite the pain.

“Amelia,” I repeated.

Her small body clung onto Yang who was rubbing the leftover kraken mucus into her wounds. I wheezed while searching through my bag for a restorative potion to help her recover her physical health and mana. There were only two, and I pulled one out and crawled over to her, dribbling the liquid into her mouth.

I tried to take her from Yang, but he held onto her tightly. Amelia swallowed the liquid as I wiped the blood off of her face, and she slowly opened her eyes.

“Peijin,” she sobbed, reaching her small arms out to hook them around my neck. Yang relented and begrudgingly handed her over, and I gently threw her over my shoulder while rocking her in an attempt to soothe her.

When I stood up, pain seared through my body, but I ignored it and paced around the train. “You did well, Amelia. I’m proud of you. You were the reason we beat that level,” I whispered into her ear while patting her back. I discreetly looked over my shoulder and gestured for the rest of the party to raid the rewards chest.

With Amelia now possessing two beasts under her command despite being an initially very weak disciple, there was no doubt that she could survive alone in this world.

Admittedly, a part of me felt remorse over forcing her through such an experience, but she was insignificant to this story and nothing more than an anomaly in a fictional world.

Scathing Reviewer activated!

Her small hands tightly gripped onto the back of my shirt, and I suddenly felt the strange urge to comfort her. I sighed, continuing to move around the train while I approached her poster. Her poster now depicted a new image—one of her with countless beasts and creatures all around her, following her lead.

“See your poster, Amelia? That’s what you’ve accomplished just now,” I reassured her until she seemed to calm down. “You should check out the chest. There will probably be some awards for you.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I inspect the silver cuff on her arm, and the sea serpent is now a part of the intricate ornamentation. The cuff seemed to already contain other beasts including a phoenix and white tiger, but those would be far too strong for her.

Yang’s voice called out from the chest. “Amelia! There are three skills for you to pick from.”

Three blue screens were glowing from above the chest. The rest of the rewards seemed like miscellaneous items that the rest of the party had already bagged.

Universal Communication Stone's Aura Mark of the Beast

Universal Communication would allow Amelia the ability to communicate with all creatures: wolves, dragons, serpents, insects. However, Amelia had already proven herself capable. It was a rather useless skill for her.

Stone’s Aura was a rather interesting skill; when equipped, the user’s aura or energy would vanish and become nothing more than a stone. In later rounds where demons or ghosts could detect people and divinities, it would completely protect her. It was a primarily defensive move, but it was perfect for an ambush.

Mark of the Beast was by far the most complicated one. As per the same, it inherited evil or demon connotations and would compete with the Abrahamic gods. But it wasn’t a demonic skill.

The user would be able to merge and turn into a beast hybrid for a period of time if they so desired. It got its name from the fact that demons were humans who had to merge themself permanently with a creature—typically serpents, bulls, and dragons.

Demon 'Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven’ encourages Disciple Amelia to select 'Mark of the Beast.'

That was the first time the Bull Demon King expended a significant amount of spiritual energy, and it was over a weak disciple's skill.

“Wouldn’t ‘Mark of the Beast’ align Amelia with demons?” Yang asked, looking skeptically toward me for an answer. I could tell that he had much more to say to me, but he bit back his tongue in front of Amelia.

“The description reads more as a temporary shift. It probably is just named after the fact that demons are typically merged with some kind of animal, and the skill permits that.”

Observer 'Hedgehog1938': That's sick asf pick it

I wasn't sure how far I should take my lie of being a god. Should I presume omniscience or take a middle-ground?

Divinity 'Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ says Stone’s Aura is difficult to attain.

Demon 'Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven’ says ‘Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ disagrees just to disagree.

Divinity ‘Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ has taken offense to such a claim.

Divinity ‘Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ is threatening to torture ‘Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven’ for fun.

Yue was now glaring at Wei, her arms crossed over her chest while the spear was held in a threatening manner. “Your sponsor better mind his place, Wei.”

“... I’m just a disciple. There’s nothing I can do.”

Divinity ‘Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ finds Disciple Yue to be very entertaining.

Divinity ‘Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ has sponsored Disciple Yue 2,000 stars.

2,000 stars?!

"Maybe I should piss off more demons," I grumbled, sighing and rubbing my temples.

Observer 'Socrates': Why are you like this Jia Li

Yue’s body immediately tensed at the mocking sponsorship, but after noticing the amount, she kept her mouth shut.

In a monotone voice, Wei replied, “Is money the only way to shut you up?”

“It’s one of the ways.”

If the Bull Demon King and Archangel Michael theoretically fought, it would be a rather difficult battle for both sides; however, Archangel Michael had the advantage of killing many demons in the past. He was by far one of the cruelest Abrahamic gods, and he frequently tortured and mutilated Demon Kings when bored.

The only reason he wasn’t doing so now, was because he was more entertained by the splendid show I was putting on.

Amelia, still wearing the blue sweatshirt, tugged on the bottom of my dark brown pants. “Peijin, does ‘Stone’s Aura’ apply to the animals I tame?”

“Uhh…”

Editor’s Pen is activated!

When equipped, the skill ‘Stone’s Aura applies to all of the disciple’s tamed entities.

Edit granted!

My face softened, and I smile down at her. “I believe so.”

“Then I should pick that one, right?” She paused and stammered, seemingly to turn back on her decision. “I don’t know. What would you pick, Peijin?”

“‘Stone’s Aura’ is a daoist and defensive technique, and ‘Mark of the Beast’ is more offensive and has indirect correlations with the Demon Kings,” I replied. “Both are good options. It just depends on what you want, although you can theoretically work your way to both.”

I wasn’t really lying this time. Whichever she picked, both would work out well. Personally, I doubted her ability to get ‘Mark of the Beast’ herself—she was still rather weak and not a very formidable opponent, but ‘Stone’s Aura’ would take the average disciple hundreds of years to attain.

Amelia’s small hand reached up and selected a skill just before the timer ran out. The metro began to fade once more, this time slowly crumbling away into a black void.

I confidently turned to Yue, spinning my blade and readjusting it in my hand. “Yue, do you have any idea on what your room-”

“No.”

My expression immediately turned back to one of disdain. “Are you seriously going to act like this right now?”

“These rooms are based on our biggest fears, right?” She asked back, ignoring my question.

I paused for a moment before giving a slight nod.

Yang gently placed his hand behind Yue’s shoulder, looking at her with those reassuring orange eyes. “What do you want us to do in the next room?”

His question felt like a direct attack on my reaction to Amelia’s room.

“Don’t leave.” Yue’s voice was cold and commanding, but she spared a small glance up at Yang, and the hand that clutched her spear trembled.

With that, the metro soon faded and rumbled into complete darkness, nothing but the whirring of the tracks beneath us ringing out. The doors opened and the metro vanished, but large theatre lights popped up and illuminated the room.

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, but I was blinking rapidly to help the adjustment. “Is everyone here?”

The spot beside Yang once occupied was now empty, yet his hand was still hovering in the air as if it were on a shoulder. Yang’s eyes widened as he quickly pulled back.

“Yue?”