"Hoho." Varian rubbed the soft white beard on his chin and laughed softly, like a grandpa witnessing his grandson's prank.
"Do you understand words or need to be taught by my fist?" The skinny guy staggered forward, resembling a complete drunkard.
His bloodshot eyes and pale face caused Varian to wonder if he was a ghost.
"Lower your head!" The skinny guy growled.
His team of four high level 7s died in the forest, but they only managed to inflict normal injuries on the beast.
In the end, he sacrificed his attack treasure and killed the beast. But the price was a heavy drain on his chi and vitality.
He likely lost five years of his lifespan. But without the treasure, he'd have died.
That's why…
"Give the treasure and I won't bother you." He repeated again, but this time, locked his aura onto Varian.
Boom!
The air shook and a heavy pressure descended on the old man.
According to the strength, he had shown so far, the skinny man was confident the old man stood no chance against him.
But…
"You want this?" The old man removed the storage ring from his finger and showed it to the skinny guy.
"Yes! Hurry up!" The skinny man yelled in a rushed voice.
The teams glanced at them before turning their attention back to the giant doors. As for the strongest trio, they didn't even glance in his direction.
Unless it's a matter of life and death, Prince Curtis had no intention of intervening.
It's a bit hypocritical, but after unexpected difficulty and setbacks in the royal garden, Prince Curtis was more cautious.
The same went for everyone else. So, they did nothing when Varian was coerced.
"Okay." Varian stretched his hand holding the storage ring towards the skinny guy.
He was laughing inside.
While everyone used storage accessories, including storage rings, Varian had no use for them.
He used ghost ship!
Even though it's not working right now, he was still able to put the items in ghost ship and take them out.
Compared to ghost ship, these storage items were a joke.
"…" The skinny guy stretched his hand towards the storage ring while his space sense scanned the old man.
'There are no other storage devices. He only has this storage ring.' He concluded and his lips curled up further. This meant he'd be getting all the treasures of that old fellow!
"Hee—heuk!" The skinny man began to laugh as he touched the storage ring but his jaw dropped the next second while his eyes widened.
With a flick of his finger, Varian shot the storage ring out of the corridor. It entered the dark boundary space and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Y-You!" The skinny guy looked at Varian with venomous eyes.
Varian, on the other hand simply smirked. For some reason, he thoroughly enjoyed the man's fall from joy to despair.
'…I shouldn't be such a sadist, but this guy deserves it.' Shaking his head, Varian also focused on the giant door.
The skinny guy debated 'teaching' Varian a lesson, but the sound of footsteps interrupted his train of thought.
He didn't know...if he really tried, Varian would've mopped the floor with him.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
One by one, twenty-nine people reached the end of the corridor.
Even though he expected it, Varian was still surprised that fifty people really managed to pass the trial.
"Thankfully, we used the guys who just reached the end of the valley…." A member explained their strategy to the existing ones.
Other than the hundred who entered the royal garden, there were also other level 7s in the valley.
Around thirty of them.
These people didn't reach the end of the valley in time.
But when they did, they were recruited by the team and sent to the royal garden.
They'd provoke a monster and run all the way to the blue vortex and escape.
Then, the teams waiting in the valley would jump into the vortex and take the monster by surprise.
In fact, several teams cooperated in such attacks.
While the elite teams used attack treasures, the ones without such treasures used this tactic.
In the end, out of the hundred and thirty people in the valley, twenty died, fifty entered the corridor, and sixty were disqualified.
"So that's how it is…" Prince Curtis nodded at their explanation.
Then, he pointed to the three giant doors with a troubled expression. With a flick of his finger, a massive invisible force pushed a door.
But the door remained still.
"We don't know the conditions to enter." Prince Jamie sighed.
"Lame." Princess Nora clicked her tongue.
"…" Charles didn't speak a word but calmly observed everyone on the field.
It's as if he was searching for someone.
'Dreamer…Varian…' His eyes narrowed and noted a few suspicious figures.
He got a single treasure that could blow away any disguise. But it's one-time use.
So, he decided to narrow down the list further before finding his dear enemy.
'Since we're made to wait, I think there are other stupid tests. Varian, I hope you pass them all. Then, I can kill you myself.' His heart burned but he kept his cool.
Then, his gaze stopped on an old man. The same geezer who provoked him.
Sensing his gaze, the old man hurriedly moved to the side.
'Coward. You challenged me before, but now, you can't even see me in the eye.' Charles snickered and returned his gaze back to the doors.
At the end of the crowd, Varian struggled to control his breathing.
He didn't dare to look at Charles.
Because if he did…
'I'll fucking kill this son of a bitch! Arghhh!'
Varian's blood boiled with rage and he barely controlled himself.
Everyone tried their best to open the doors, but after thirty minutes, they all gave up.
"Hoho. So many subjects!" A burst of aged laughter echoed in the corridor and an old man appeared in front of the crowd.
In a large blue robe with a white beard that reached his chest, the old man looked at the fifty members with glittering eyes.
"?!"
The crowd forgot to breathe.
They never expected a creature inside this place!
How the fuck could any deva be alive?! Weren't they extinct five thousand years ago?
As their doubts piled up, the strongest among the bunch noticed a peculiarity.
'He doesn't have any signs of life…'
The old man was a puppet.
"As the eternal servant of the crown prince, I'm delighted to direct you to his throne hall." The old man bowed lightly.
'Crown Prince? Isn't this Ruler's Abode? Shouldn't we meet the king or emperor?'
The crowd raised their brows in confusion before their eyes widened further. 'Is he alive or what?'
A sense of unease filled the air.
'He's a puppet. Chill out.' The psychics in the group informed everyone and the tense atmosphere cooled down.
"While I'm delighted, I can't allow just anyone to meet the prince." The old man straightened his back and said in an authoritative tone.
A huge pressure filled the air and everyone began to sweat instinctively.
'….Peak Level 9?'
This old man, no, this puppet was a powerhouse!
"The first shortlisting was the royal garden. The second…" The old man's eyes narrowed as he pointed to the far left door.
"Strength. If you're confident in your strength, enter that door. You'll encounter strong opponents. Don't worry, your opponents' realm will vary relative to your own realm."
Smiling at the crowd amicably, he pointed to the far right door. "Wit. If you're confident in your intellect, enter through this door. Clear the challenges and you can meet the prince."
Then, he finally pointed to the middle door. "Strength and Wit. If you want to fight, but you do it with wit, enter this door."
The crowd carefully digested his words and one of them raised their hands.
"Once we enter a door, c-can we return from a door and pick another?" A woman asked meekly.
The old man gave the most sincere smile to the woman and said. "Such a good joke, little one. Once you enter, you either meet the prince or meet death. That's it."
"Huek!"
His words caused a section of the crowd to flinch and step back.
In the crowd, a middle-aged man mumbled with a pale face. "…What the hell is this? Which prince would be so crazy—"
His words cut off abruptly as a thin red line appeared on his neck. The next moment, his head rolled on the ground and turned into ashes.
"Oops!" The old man covered his face. Then, he looked at the crowd with panicking eyes. "I'm really sorry! It's been too long since anyone talked to me that my old habits are coming up again!"
"…"
No one made a sound.
Even the strong trio held their breaths. They couldn't even sense how the old man killed someone right in front of their eyes.
In other words, they weren't confident they could stop him if he wanted to kill them.
"Really now, it's been so many years that this old servant lost his temper. I swear I wasn't like this…" The old man explained, but there wasn't a bit of remorse on his face.
Ten minutes passed s the old man continued to excuse his behavior.
Finally, he stopped and looked at the pale crowd.
"If anyone interrupted me, I'd have killed them. Young people are no fun."
His words caused the crowd to shut their mouth and some people even paused their breathing.
"I was kidding. Hahaha." The old man laughed and snapped his fingers.
Creaak!
With a creaking sound, the three giant doors opened.
"Now go to the crown prince's hall!"