Witnessing one of their kin fall, the rest of the Merman Eaters roared in fury and charged at Aurianna. A ball of poison was released, rapidly contaminating the water around them. However, Aurianna and Boara remained unaffected, and Gixo immediately shielded Kiana.

"Hmm, judging by their strength, these monsters are probably on par with newly awakened Arc Humans. Despite their size, you're quite strong. Maybe that's why that lady was so afraid of sea monsters," Aurianna mused referring to the woman she fought at the slave auction and the Merman Eaters approaching her exploded, as though shot.

Aurianna twirled the revolver in her hand and swam upward, gazing at the horde of Merman Eaters who had become wary of her. Suddenly, thousands of shotguns and cannons materialized around the area. With a snap of her fingers, all her weapons unleashed a barrage of bullets, wiping out the Merman Eaters within minutes.

'She's so cool. Wait, think rationally, Kiana!' Kiana scolded herself, smacking her cheek.

"Well, that was quick. I barely did anything," Kiana sighed as Gixo lowered his shield.

"At least you participated. I doubt the angels care much at this point," Aurianna said, looking ahead as the next trial door appeared.

[Well, it's clear you have the potential to clear this Ruin. We might as well not place restrictions on you, especially with such a burdensome partner. ಠ_ಠ] The angels remarked coldly, clearly referring to Kiana.

"I don't blame them for thinking that way," Boara agreed, scratching her cheek nervously as she met Kiana's teary eyes.

"At least defend me or something!" Kiana whined.

"It's hard to defend you when what they're saying is true," Aurianna added.

"Traitor!" Kiana spat, slumping to the ground in despair.

'Still, I could barely handle one, yet she killed so many,' Kiana thought, biting her lip. 'I don't want to seem useless. I need to get stronger!'

"You'll get there one day, so don't worry too much, Kiana," Aurianna stated calmly, arms crossed.

"No way! You're just a hardworking monster!" Kiana grumbled, and Aurianna chuckled softly.

"Hmm, we've been here for a week so far. Time seems to move strangely with each trial, but this is good. Six trials done in a week—at this pace, we'll complete all the trials sooner than I expected," Aurianna said.

"Now, onto the next trial!" Aurianna declared, pointing towards the large doors.

"Great," Kiana sighed, following behind.

**Seventh Trial: Donmolar**

In the seventh trial, Aurianna watched the sea of monsters with a frown. Kiana trembled at the sight, while Hadina remained unfazed. The creatures before them were skeletal and grotesque, with scars covering their thin skin, long tongues, and hollow eyes.

"Oh, it's the same as the last one—a group of these monsters. But this time, it's like an army. I assume they're meant to wear us out and eventually kill us. Each one has the strength of a mid-tier Arc Human," Aurianna mumbled as she examined the horde.

"How did you know?" Kiana asked curiously.

"Their muscles, the way they move... some even managed to sense you, but they won't dare attack because of Boara. And despite their large number, they're not fighting each other for food or survival. Instead, the dead ones that die naturally become the next food supply, which means they're intelligent," Aurianna explained with a frown.

"I see," Kiana said, nodding.

"I guess this is gonna be tough," she added, sighing with her hands on her hips.

"Not like you do much anyway, Kiana," Aurianna chuckled, making Kiana blush in embarrassment.

"You just wait! One day I'll be able to help you a lot more!" Kiana declared, pointing at Aurianna before turning away and pouting.

"I shall wait to see that day, but I doubt my scaredy-cat mermaid will live until then," Aurianna teased with a smile.

"You wait!" Kiana yelled defiantly.

"So, what will you do, master?" Zagan purred from Aurianna's shoulder.

"Finally decided to come out of the space?" Aurianna asked with a smile, rubbing his head.

"Yes, I want to spend more time with master," Zagan chirped.

"Silly cat," Aurianna chuckled.

"Hadina, come," Aurianna called, and a portal appeared before her. Hadina stepped out eagerly.

"Master, you summoned me!" Hadina said excitedly.

"I want to finish this quickly, so help me, okay?" Aurianna asked.

"Of course, master!" Hadina agreed.

"Hehehe," Hadina giggled with joy, turning to give Boara and Kiana an arrogant smirk.

"Why is she smirking at us like that?" Boara wondered, looking confused.

"I have no idea," Kiana shrugged.

"Watch me, master. I'll kill all these monsters in a flash!" Hadina declared, her excitement palpable as she swam around the room. Her movements were barely visible, and in an instant, many monsters were sliced to pieces before they could react.

"Kiana, you'd better earn yourself some experience before she kills them all," Boara suggested.

"Alright, I'll try my best!" Kiana declared before swimming off.

After a few minutes, Kiana returned to Aurianna, panting, while Hadina looked refreshed.

"Master, I'm done! It only took me two hours to slaughter all 20,000 monsters! I left a few barely alive for this child to finish off," Hadina announced, a satisfied smile on her face.

'That woman is incredibly fast, but not as fast as Carol,' Boara thought as she watched Hadina.

"If we fought, would I win?" Boara asked, looking at Aurianna.

"Hadina's power has been reduced since I made her my summon. However, as I get stronger, I'll be able to utilize all of her abilities. So, if both of you were to fight at full power, I really have no idea. I don't know either of your full potentials," Aurianna replied with a shrug.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I'll definitely win if we were to fight, Master! So please have more faith in me," Hadina pleaded, gently holding Aurianna in her tentacles.

"Alright, so now let's move on to the eighth trial!" Aurianna declared.

*Eighth Trial: The Experimented King*

After passing through the floor, they found themselves in a room lined with strange beings hanging from the walls. Aurianna approached them, inspecting closely before muttering, “Seems like they are mummies. What does this trial even have to do with a king?”

Suddenly, the room plunged into complete darkness. Kiana, Zagan, and Hadina immediately rushed to Aurianna's side as she activated Gixo.

“You sense danger, huh?” Gixo queried.

“A useless question, considering that's your whole purpose,” Aurianna snapped, and Gixo scoffed in response.

“Boara, I'll leave this one to you,” Aurianna stated.

“That's fine,” Boara replied calmly, her four eyes scanning the room while her two tails swayed.

‘I wonder how Boara fights in her human form,’ Kiana mused, watching Boara closely.

“A sneak attack won't work on me,” Boara chuckled, grasping the mummy's sword. The weapon was invisible to the naked eye, but she could clearly sense its presence.

“Let's finish this quickly,” Boara declared. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of slashing, and when the lights came back on, it was in complete disarray.

“That was fast!” Kiana gasped.

“Kiana, come finish the final blow,” Boara called, pinning the last monster under her foot.

________

After a year of completing various trials, Aurianna, Zagan, Boara, and Kiana finally reached the third trial of the Ruin.

“Third Trial: Jugi Hitario, the Copycat,” Aurianna read aloud as she looked at the large door before them. The words on the screen faded away.

“To think we finally made it this far. Oh my gosh, thank the heavens!” Kiana exclaimed, hugging Boara tightly.

“How many times did you cry for your life?” Aurianna asked, her expression annoyed.

“Value life a bit more! I really thought we were going to die all those times!” Kiana retorted, wiping away her tears.

“As long as I'm here, I doubt we would've died,” Aurianna chuckled, looking at Kiana. “But now I only have two days left before I must go to the Domain Prison. We need to be careful because it won't reset until next week,” she warned.

“Well, those heroes were terrifying, and now we have to fight this new one. I'm exhausted!” Kiana whined.

“Stop being lazy, Kiana,” Aurianna said, pinching Kiana's cheeks.

“Ow, ow! Aurianna, that hurts! Please forgive me!” Kiana pleaded.

“Fine, just toughen up. All your crying is annoying.”

“Someone used to be a crybaby too,” Eva giggled in Aurianna's mind.

“That's not important, Eva!” Aurianna yelled, her face flushing with embarrassment.

‘If I didn't know about that invisible lady Eva, I'd think she's crazy,’ Kiana thought.

‘Suddenly, all the messages I sent to Batholem and Peter throughout the year went through. I received their replies, full of silly worries. Feels nice to be worried about, I guess,’ Aurianna thought, smiling as she noticed a ping of 900+ messages. The overwhelming number made her nervous as she stared at them.

“Ehhh, are you blushing?” Eva teased.

“Shut up! Who's blushing?” Aurianna huffed, resuming her focus on her phone.

“Wow, they need to chill. Why did they send me so many? Do I really have to reply to all of these?” Aurianna sighed.

“Give me a few minutes to answer these messages. The connection could disappear anytime,” she stated, settling into her bubble of air to keep her phone dry while she diligently responded to each message.

____________

In a luxurious living room, twelve people sat, engrossed in conversation. They were dressed in opulent clothing and noticeably taller than the servants who moved around, serving refreshments. Despite being human, each person had a distinct colored cross in their eyes.

Ding!

Batholem perked up at the sound, checking his phone to find replies from Aurianna. His face lit up with genuine happiness.

“What’s got you so happy, Batholem?” Mel, a brown-skinned teenage girl with short, curly purple hair, asked with curiosity. “You usually have that cold smile, but now you're genuinely smiling.”

“Someone important. You got her messages too, right, Peter?” Batholem replied, meeting Peter's clock-like eyes.

“She said she's in a Ruin. I wonder how she ended up there,” Peter sighed, not seeming worried at all.

“Wait, what? A Ruin?” Panz, a fair-skinned young man with long golden hair tied in a ponytail, stood up, his gray eyes with a green cross trembling. “That has to be a joke. I don't believe it,” he scoffed, crossing his arms.

“She actually took pictures!” Batholem exclaimed with a nervous expression. Instantly, all the cross-eyed individuals gathered behind him and Peter, who were sitting together. They looked at their phones, surprised by several images Aurianna had taken of herself in the Ruin, including some with corpses.

“She has an angelic appearance, but her tastes are quite... crude,” Noelle, a teenage girl, scoffed her long sleeve covering her face. “She’s certainly strange. It might be blasphemous to say, but she does look a bit prettier than the goddess Paige,” Ryl, a teenage boy with a feminine voice that could easily be mistaken for a girl's, chimed in, the purple cross in his eyes glowing.

“How the hell is she able to survive in a Ruin? And what's more, she's on trial three—that shouldn't be possible,” Batholem mumbled, his confusion growing as he read Aurianna's messages.

“Let me see that! There's no way all this can be true,” his sister demanded, holding out her hand. Batholem handed her the phone without hesitation.

‘I didn't even notice her come in,’ they all thought nervously as they watched Batholem's sister.

As Yelina scrolled through Aurianna’s messages, her expression became increasingly grave. “This is actually a Ruin. The walls, the interior, the door—how is this possible?” she wondered aloud.

“You've been to a Ruin before?” Batholem asked, curious.

“Of course. Luckily, my party made a second life pact with the church, so if we die, we can automatically revive at the Church of Light,” Yelina declared proudly. But her expression quickly turned serious. “However, it's not easy to gain access to a Ruin. One needs to meet specific criteria. This shouldn't even be possible. So, this is where your missing friend has been.”

“How old is she, exactly?” Yelina asked Batholem.

“She should be 12 by now. It's been two years since she was kidnapped and disappeared. The organization that took her was bigger than we thought, but we found the place where she was held, and it was completely destroyed,” Batholem explained nervously.

“Yes, they said the one who destroyed it was a monstrous Grand Human in the form of a child. White hair, eyes that sparkle like gems, and pure white skin, like a ghost. Definitely Aurianna,” Peter stated confidently.

“All the slaves held there were presumed dead during the attack. Those involved in the auction who escaped haven't been caught yet,” Cenile mumbled. He was a fair-skinned teenage boy with dark grey hair and deep green eyes. The cross in his eyes was red.

“There's no way that girl is 12, Batholem! She's probably some old hag!” Nae scoffed as she sat beside Batholem, hugging his arm. Her brown eyes stared at Batholem while she blushed, the cross in her eyes a bright red.

“She is 12. I went with Batholem to Aurianna's 10th birthday, after all,” Peter said calmly, arms crossed and a smirk on his lips.

“Isn't she just a monster? This has never been recorded in history,” Yelina asked, her expression nervous. Batholem began to feel uncomfortable.

“The only people who grew this fast were…” Mel mumbled, trembling.

“Yes, the Sacreds—the children of the gods,” Peter blurted out.

“That shouldn't be possible. Aurianna is from a human family!” Batholem stood up, yelling at Peter.

“Does she look like her family?” Peter asked calmly.

“No…” Batholem replied, nervously.

“That should explain it.”

“But which god? She doesn't look like any of them,” Cactus, a brown-skinned teenage boy, wondered with a furrowed brow. His oddly shaped eyebrows framed his pink eyes, and the cross in his eyes was black.

“Well, we'll just have to wait and see,” Yelina sighed, handing Batholem back his phone. “If this is indeed a real Ruin in the Dark Seas, her last opponent will determine whether she lives or dies,” she said gravely.

“What!” Batholem gasped.

“Calm down,” Yelina said. “I'd be worried too,” she sighed. “She’ll be facing Jade Havensworth, one of the three most dangerous Heroes to ever exist. If those Ruin images match what I know, that will be her final trial.”

“The Heroes are alive?!” All the children in the room gasped, except Peter, who seemed already aware.

“Of course they are. Your families probably planned to tell you this later. The main reason Royal Humans were created, and why we were granted this title, is to work with the Church of Light and other churches to kill every hero imprisoned in those Ruins,” Yelina declared coldly, clenching her fist.

“We’ve managed to kill a few, but we could never defeat the number one in each Ruin, which leads to our deaths and resets the Ruin, reviving the previously dead heroes.”

“Why doesn't the Ruin let the heroes stay dead when they're killed?” Panz asked curiously.

“I have no idea. We can't understand the minds of the gods,” Yelina admitted nervously.

“You might never see your friend again, Batholem,” Yelina said calmly, noticing the hurt expression on his face, which made her heart ache. But it was a cold truth she had to tell him.

“Do you underestimate Aurianna so much?” Peter chuckled. “Don’t worry, Batholem and Yelina. We’ll see Aurianna in two months in Heaha town,” he stated confidently.

“You know those dungeon lands beside your country?” Peter asked, and Yelina nodded.

“We'll know she's back when she wipes out that entire place,” Peter said calmly, causing everyone to take in a deep breath.