Earth, Proximax Guild’s territory.
At the Black Will Temple, Lily’s father Dagon Darkwood, and Executive Gelato Shen stood in silence and anticipation.
Lily was inside.
Suddenly, Gelato’s eyes flickered with growing shock as he muttered, “Ten minutes.”
A shadow arrived nearby, leaning against a rock.
Lady Aria, the Crimson Shadow.
“The highest record in Hell Difficulty is 12 minutes, if I remember correctly, held by Almond.”
Gelato looked at her and nodded. My Virtual Library Empire
“That’s right. And he got a Legendary-rank innate talent.”
“Lily…” Dagon mumbled, his eyes showing worry. He knew about Black Will Temple, and one minute equaled one month inside in a difficult environment with difficult goals to accomplish.
“Nothing will happen to her, Dagon. She is strong, very strong,” Lady Aria said, her eyes filled with conviction. “Almond’s absence has the greatest impact on her, and that impact is fueling her.”
“I know, but I haven’t seen her smile for a long time now,” Dagon sighed. “All she does is train and fight.”
“And now, she is monstrously stronger.” Gelato smiled wryly. He still remembered Lily’s clearing an S-rank Dungeon with two old monsters yesterday and saw her one-shotting the Boss as she marked her presence in the strongest forces.
“Mythical-rank Darkness Elemental Mastery, and Epic-rank Blood elemental Mastery. On top of that, she mastered her classes that only old monsters and several others had done, and her Weapon Art is on par with old monsters,” Lady Aria said with a glint in her eyes. “Her progress rate in techniques and combat power is way higher than what Almond had when he was here.”
Suddenly, another figure arrived and spoke, “Is she still inside?”
Proximax Guild Master, Liam Sunbreak.
“Eleven minutes,” Gelato said as he glanced at him.
“I see…” Liam’s eyes flickered with astonishment and anticipation.
“Guild Leader Liam, have you found out anything about this mysterious structure?” Dagon asked.
“It appeared with the Labyrinth Gates, It’s like a trial that gives rewards based on our performance in a strange world where we have to come out at the top without dying, as dying means the end of the trial. However…”
Guild leader Liam narrowed his eyes as he focused on the temple and added, “You see those strange markings and symbols carved all over it?”
Everyone looked at them.
“They are incomprehensible, but they have intents in them. One time, I even saw a blurry image of something, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t recall how it looked. Moreover, from what I managed to glean from those carvings, this seems like it belongs to a certain force, an organization centered around a powerful being or maybe something else.”
“Its name is Black Will Temple,” Lady Aria said. “A temple has to have a deity, but a deity might not necessarily be a living being or perhaps, it is a living being of a higher realm and establishes Black Will Temples in lower worlds like ours.”
“In any case, I think Lily is winning the jackpot with this,” Gelato laughed.
Soon, twelve minutes passed by, and everyone automatically assumed that she would emerge anytime now.
However, one minute passed by, and everyone was silent.
One minute meant one month.
“She is still inside….” Dagon’s eyes looked worried.
One more minute passed by.
And then another minute passed by.
“This…” Gelato looked at Liam.
“Is this bad?” Dagon frowned.
“Maybe she is taking her time?” Lady Aria raised her eyebrows.
“You can’t take your time inside,” Gelato muttered. “Especially if she is in the last phase that only Almond reached and told us.”
Guild Leader Liam looked at the Temple, a frown on his face, but his eyes focused on the temple.
On the other hand, a cat and a bird were also watching the temple while talking to each other, their presence oblivious and invisible to others.
And then…five more minutes in the blink of an eye.
“Guild leader Liam.” Dagon looked at Liam, his eyes trembling. “I can see from your faces this is abnormal. Tell me we can take out Lily, please.”
“Cannot,” Liam said, his eyes still focused. “Something is different this time. I am trying to understand the carvings of the temple, and I saw some of them changing.”
Suddenly, the temple glowed brightly and unleashed a beam high in the sky. However, the beam stopped at ten kilometers of height and suddenly shattered space seamlessly. The scenery in the sky within a several-kilometer area shifted. It was as if they were watching a movie on a screen as exotic sceneries shifted rapidly.
Everyone looked up, shocked.
“What’s going on?!” Gelato was dumbfounded. “Beam shooting up is normal at the end, but this is not normal.”
“Look at the temple!” Lady Aria quickly said.
Everyone saw the temple’s carving glowing while it broke down.
From its door, they saw a figure emerging amidst the black aura.
Lily walked towards them as darkness infusing crimson sparks adorned her with a regal, royal-black coat with ornate red patterns. Beneath it, a fitted black breastplate with matching filigree red-colored detail accentuated her waist. The coat’s lower half splits into two flowing tails, while black trousers tuck into edgy crimson-patterned black boots.
Gelato could almost see her four signature Dreadspire Elemental beasts in the darkness around her that followed her like a wide pair of wings.
Everyone, including Liam Sunbreak, felt an existential pressure upon them.
Only Liam was familiar with this in this group as he had felt this when he had seen Almond sparring with a few old monsters.
“Lily!” Dagon rushed at her, his worry finally disappearing upon seeing her.
“I am fine, Dad. And I got a chance to get closer to him…” Lily said, her eyes looking at the sky.
“Just…take some rest occasionally, would you?” Dagon sighed, stretching his head to gently pat her head.
“The temple is breaking…”
Everyone looked at the temple and indeed. It was breaking apart with all the carvings on it shining.
“Dad, excuse me for a bit,” Lily said as Dagon dropped into shadow and appeared several meters away, right beside Guild Leader Liam.
She turned around to face the broken temple, her eyes glinting with strange symbols in the pupils.
[Lily Darkwood. Congratulations. You have been chosen as the 78th candidate for the contest of the Ruined Achromatic Throne.]
The broken temple’s shards turned liquid and conjoined before streaming at Lily, entering her forehead as her eyes whitened and a strange symbol ❂ appeared in her pupils.
As two more notifications rang in her mind, Lily clenched her fist.
Her eyes shifted to the two options she was given.
Just as she was about to select one, her eyes went up in the sky as Almond’s smiling face and his confident yet determined eyes appeared in her mind.
A faint smile formed on her face as she selected an option.
‘Not yet.’
[It is imperative that you accept this as soon as possible.]
‘I said, not yet!’
Turning around, Lily faced Dagon and the others.
“Congratulations,” Liam said with a smile. “Whatever happened, I’m sure it’s a good thing.”
“So, what rank of Innate talent you got?” Gelato asked with a grin.
“It’s unranked,” Lily replied as she blinked, her focus on the window panel.
“I got more information, mainly about the origin of this temple.”
“Pray tell,” Liam rubbed his chin, his eyes curious. “It seems that you somehow gained a connection to a higher force or something, given how the temple disappeared after your trial completion. Maybe the temple was here to find that someone, and it’s you.”