The Refinement God's spirit could no longer focus on any of the other candidates and their efforts to describe the palace. It was now fully enraptured by Draco in the sense that it marveled over his sharpness.
He had successfully broken down everything about the test and what it was supposed to achieve with so little to go on to the point that there was no longer any point in testing him.
As such, the Refinement God's spirit announced: "This millennium's competition will end here. Although there are quite a few viable candidates this time around, I have encountered someone most fitting for my purposes and will now vet them."
Hearing this, the candidates and the mayors were both saddened and aggrieved deep down, until a burst of hope and excitement lit up in their hearts. Who was it? Who was the lucky one to receive the Inheritance of the Supreme Ancestor?!
This had never happened before! No one had ever passed the three tests and reached the vetting stage… wait, they were still in the middle of the SECOND test! Who was the monster that made the Supreme Ancestor cancel it all just to speed things up?
As the candidates buzzed and looked around to suss who it might be, Draco casually walked out, causing the excited crowd to freeze. They all watched his back, his black cape billowing majestically in the wind as he walked towards the palace.
The crowd would have… no, should have erupted in anger at this sight… but there was only silence. Whether it was the mayors or the candidates, they all felt suffocated, like something was squeezing the inner parts of their torsos lightly.
Thoughts began to emerge in their heads convincing them that this actually was the reality of the situation, and that it should have been obvious from the start, killing their enthusiasm and the hope for their own protégés.
Hoover and Vishad shared a meaningful look. Both of them had already seen Draco mentally suppress Evergreen Village's candidates and had been aware that he possessed such abilities, thinking that he would use them during the test to suppress his foes.
However, the present situation in which he decided to showcase these abilities could be described as the best possible one. He had suppressed all possible dissent without even speaking a word.
Even if the one chosen had not been him, by virtue of his current actions, they would be too weakened to even claim their rightful place, and would have been forced watch on while Draco took it from them.
Luckily, there was no issue here since Draco was indeed the chosen one. He entered the strange palace with the Refinement God's spirit one step ahead of him, merely turning his head slightly towards the crowd still outside.
While only being able to see the side profile of his face, there was a short period of pause before Draco smirked mockingly. Right at that moment, the doors to the palace closed, cutting their view from the arrogant fellow.
No matter the gender or race in the crowd, or even status, everyone was left feeling cheated and impotent, especially with how the fellow rubbed it in. There were just two people who rejoiced at this fellow's shamelessness, Hoover and Vishad. They felt like investors who watched their initial investment of a mere thousand dollars reap profits in the billions!
..........
Draco walked through the palace with the Refinement God's spirit. He noticed that the deeper he went, the more bizarre the decorations. Clearly, this Semi-Origin God was talented in Tradeskills, because, like any genius, they likely viewed the world in a different way.
That was the only explanation he could think of for this bizarre aesthetic their habitat possessed. Soon enough they reached what should be a private meeting room, which featured some sofas and a table.
Draco plopped down on the visitor's sofa while the spirit seemed to place itself on the other side. Draco rubbed his hair and spoke first: "So, Mr. Refinement God, what do you want with the great me?"
The spirit squirmed, as if second-guessing if this was actually a good idea, then solidified into a concrete shape. It wasn't quite what Draco had expected, for it was a feminine figure that was quite average.
"That would be Miss Refinement Goddess if anything, Young Hybrid." The spirit corrected him in a clearly female voice this time, unlike the genderless one it had used before.
Draco observed the Refinement God… Refinement Goddess in silence. From the form she had taken, she was quite okay in terms of objective attractiveness. Clean skin, svelte form, not much of a backside and extremely modest bust, a sharp jaw, thin lips, a slightly hooked nose, and inclined eyes.
Had she been any slimmer, she would have appeared like the old Slim Fatty. With her facial features, she seemed more like a scary/strict librarian than a Tradeskill genius.
"Right, Miss Norma. So, you called me here for…?" Draco replied casually.
Norma pursued her lips but let the matter go. She had experienced enough of Draco's mind to understand what kind of person he was, and getting angry would just be shooting herself in the foot.
"I called you here to verify some things and clarify some others before I decide what to do with you next."
Draco folded his arms slowly. "Go ahead."
Norma's eyes narrowed slightly. "First off, what did you do to have a God's Envoy visit you?"
Draco smirked. "I basically copulated with the most exemplary women in the world. Our offspring, bearing the best parts of our genetics, were like beacons of potential and power."
Norma's eyes twitched. She inspected Draco with suspicion, but saw that he was likely speaking the truth. It wasn't that far-fetched anyway, as the bloodline she sensed coursing through him was too potent.
"Fine. Secondly, what are you? You exist differently from the rest of the humans in this world. I might have been gone for an eternity, but it should be impossible for the humans on the main plane to evolve this much."
"We are called immortal Adventurers. Feel free to think of us as profit-seeking visitors from a world higher than your Divine World and as superior forms of life, we've obtained the ability to respawn endlessly." Draco explained.
Norma's lips twitched once more, but she could tell that, despite being altered somehow, it still carried some elements of truth. Rather, it was that Draco believed it to be genuinely true and she sensed that from his mind.
"That should be acceptable. Lastly, for my final inquiry, how did you manage to acquire the location of the Treasury's opening?"
This question was poisonous, as Norma radiated a feeling of being like a poised snake, ready to pounce as soon as the signal was given.
Draco picked his ears lazily. "Not long after I've entered this world, I managed to create a potion that allows one to gain 50% of a Low-Rank Dragon's Source Origin in an era where all Dragons have gone extinct. As such, the powers that be decided that I was qualified to partake in this test."
Despite the brewing tension from the structure of the question, Draco seemed unbothered. This irked Norma greatly, as they both knew the reason why this was so.
Not only that, his answer was once again grounded in truth as she had sensed something similar when she had first inspected his soul. With a weak sigh, Norma retracted her will to harm and silently stared at Draco.
Draco also stared at her in utter silence, not moving an inch. Interestingly, they both maintained this kind of position for more than an hour straight, until Norma's lips twitched and she gave in.
"How stubborn…" She murmured unhappily.
Draco simply smiled.
Norma frowned. "Fine, then I shall speak. I have made my various inquiries and now wish to clarify some things to you."
Suddenly, Norma smiled ever so slightly and coldly. "Firstly, bringing you here has nothing to do with me giving you my inheritance. As I said, I brought you here to make inquiries and clarify some things."
Draco's nonchalant facade shattered as he frowned deeply while staring at the Refinement Goddess. She ignored his dissatisfaction and continued.
"Secondly, I was not killed by an enemy per se. Instead, it was by my own volition that I came here to die."
"Thirdly, and this is just my personal advice to you, but you should cut all contact with the Divine World henceforth. You are clever and have learned a lot through tidbits, but unearthing what happened during the old war will not be beneficial to anybody, least of all for you. Believe me when I tell you that it's for the best if certain things remain forgotten in the past, for it might rekindle old fires and start a new one."
"Fourthly, I am aware that even if I attempt it, it will be impossible to wipe your memory after you've left this Treasury, which puts me at risk of having unwanted parties learn about my heritage."
"Finally, if you truly want to carry my Inheritance… I'm unable to deny the fact that you are capable enough and talented to actually achieve it. However, I do find your manners and personality lacking, so I have decided to hold off on that."
Draco's frown deepened greatly as he dangerously rose to his feet, even as Norma continued speaking. "In fact, I think that it'd be best if I destroyed your Immortal Spirit since it's the only alternative I have to wiping your memory."
Norma simply gazed at the menacing Draco calmly. A Semi-Origin Goddess, even one who could not really fight competently, was far too strong for a mere Rank 2 entity.
However, Draco was not too bothered internally. He had two trump cards up his sleeve, his immunity to Destruction Energy, and his bloodline. The former made it impossible to ever destroy his Immortal Spirit as that would just nourish him, while the latter held secrets he whole-heartedly believed trumped anything in the world of Boundless.
Even if he had to destroy this Treasury by provoking something deadly out, he would do it. Whether Ophie, Natasha, and co would die was inconsequential, what was important was taking what he wanted when he wanted.
As such, Draco stood over Norma and gazed at her imperiously. It was as if he was the one with the Semi-Origin level power, and Norma was a measly mortal reaching for more than she could grasp.
"Another point of clarification…" Norma began with an amused tone.
"I don't need to use Destruction Energy against you." She finished as she pointed lightly towards Draco. The expression on his face changed as he felt his body convulse without his will. No, it was better to describe it as his body trying to crumple itself in order to prevent something from coming out.
"It's an interesting thing about you Immortal Adventurers that made me hone in on you and specifically ask you about it." Norma spoke casually.
Draco fell to his knees and began sweating like he had just finished running a marathon, his body tearing itself apart as if something inside wanted to free itself.
"You might call it an 'Immortal Spirit', but it's far from that. Rather, it is a special spiritual core in your body, where your organic soul should have been."
Draco's eyes reddened in rage as he began channeling his bloodline. His bloodline was like a nuclear weapon, right? Then he would allow her to get a taste of what it was like!
"Instead of a soul, like the natives of this world have it, you possess a small impure orb of Origin Energy that functions as such. It's no wonder you can revive endlessly with such a thing as your foundation."
Draco's blood began to boil over, and he felt like he was going to explode!
"Destruction Energy can eat away at any form of Energy in the universe, so it should be your kinds' only real weakness. However, judging by your earlier calmness, you must have had a way to negate or absorb Destruction Energy, leading you to believe that you were infallible."
Draco channeled it all into his Serpent God Inheritance. Every single bit of bloodline energy and source was burned at once, fueling this absurd action that would have consequences beyond anything anyone could imagine!
"Unfortunately for you, you must have been unaware of one vital thing about Semi-Origin Gods. Extracting Origin Energy from external sources to nourish ourselves is how every Semi-Origin God progresses, therefore you Immortal Adventurers are practically living tonics to us."
Draco raised his head and grinned brutally at the Refinement Goddess. His rupturing body, red eyes, and evil grin chilled the heart of Norma, as she felt an unprecedented crisis.
Draco then unleashed the power he had kept at bay, the power he had concluded would be best to deal with this Semi-Origin God's spirit.
The power of Nidhogg!