Everyone was confused when they realized the Flame Venerable appeared and told this big secret out of nowhere. They were already confused with Asmodeus treating everything like a fun game…
"What do you mean…?!" Mina asked angrily. "Do you know how much Surtr suffered?! You forced him to kill his own kind!"
"I was already dead." Asmodeus spoke with a firm tone of voice, without taking away his quirky smile. "The reason that body disappeared was because it was created by the Trial. Of course, it was only around 20% of my true power! I was much stronger back then! Hahahaha! After all, I am the one that helped this bastard learn his own Ascendancy Law of Flames."
"Oi, shut up!" The Venerable of Flames wasn't going to take more of the dragon's words.
"Anyways, well done, Surtr." Asmodeus smiled proudly of Surtr. "Sorry for scaring you so much, but this was the only way I could think to challenge you and help you grow stronger. I also wanted if you were worthy of my aid!"
"What…?" Surtr was still confused. "Do you mean…?"
"Do you mean you were pretending you were going to kill us?" Nadia asked, offended. "Bastard! You should had left that to yourself! I take my battles to the death very seriously!"
"Hahahah! Sorry for hurting your pride then, but yes! Although I wasn't holding back. I might have not killed you, but you would had been kicked out with BIG and SEVERE wounds, and you would had been forced to climb all the way here again. But surprisingly, you did it in your first try!" Laughed Asmodeus. "You guys are amazing, all of you!"
Surtr and his entire group were left speechless after hearing these words… Surtr didn't knew what to say, but he slowly calmed himself down after knowing that, and felt relieved he hadn't been forced to kill his older brother.
"Well, there was no way I would have killed you guys, even less my little brother or his wives, who carry the next generation inside their bellies." Asmodeus smiled. "By the way, I'm very happy you've got kids incoming! Well done!"
"Honestly I miss when he was just an arrogant asshole." Said Mina.
"Same…" Nadia agreed. "He's cringe now."
"A-Anyways…" Surtr sighed. "If I get this right, you two were cooperating? Do you mean this Trial was… different?"
"It was." The Venerable of Flames nodded. "It was much shorter and quicker, but this bastard begged me to make it complicated for you… So I assembled this entire thing only for you. This Trial was probably at the same difficulty as Drake's Trial. The other two bastards got the easiest Trial, and didn't get any benefit out of it like you two did."
"You mean Pandemonium and that shadowy guy?" Surtr wondered. "Do you know who they are?!"
"Of course I do, but it's up to you to discover that…" The Venerable said.
"Just so you know, this is all his plot. He wants to trap them inside the inheritance, so you and Drake kill them." Laughed Asmodeus. "He's such a dummy sometimes, always hiding his emotions and intentions, trying to act all high and mighty! I remember when he was still a dumb teen and was constantly having crushes on girls he met, constantly having his heart broken! HAHAHA!"
"SHUT UP!"
The Venerable of Flames couldn't take Asmodeus words any longer, he smacked his head with a gigantic golden axe covered by flames, but that did nothing at the end, Asmodeus was already dead after all…
CLAAAASSHHH!!!
"HAHAHAH! See? He got such a bad temperament!" Laughed Asmodeus. "You need to take your chill pill sometimes, friend."
"I swear I would kill you if you were alive…" The Venerable groaned.
"Anyways, ignoring their banter." Said Muspel. "Your brother here has been a good friend of this bastard for a while. After his death, he joined him on his tomb and became an administrator of his Trials. The reason why this trial was so long was to test your abilities and also help you grow. Haven't you grown much stronger now, Surtr?"
"Certainly… I've Leveled Up a lot." Surtr nodded, noticing his Aura of Divinity becoming incredibly thicker and powerful. "And I feel like I can more easily control my powers and the Origin Flames too. And my Skills have become stronger too, some even have Evolved."
"I have grown stronger too…!" Nadia noticed. "My entire body got much stronger… And my Divine Core is overflowing with at least twice as much Divine Power."
"Me too…" Mina nodded. "It also feels like my magic has strengthened itself…"
Everyone else noticed the changes as well, even Leona and Agni. Leona could now summon more of her Beast Spirit Magic without the need for Agni to boost her powers beforehand.
And Agni was now able to buff multiple people at once, not only three, but perhaps over ten at a time. His buffs had also become stronger, and he could even conjure some offensive magic.
"H-How did we get this strong?" Agni asked. "We've been simply killing monsters…"
"Is this Trial more special then we imagined?" Leona asked.
"Nothing special has happened, you simply have absorbed the lifeforce and mana of the things you defeat through this trial's effects." Said the Venerable. "This was all courtesy of this idiot."
"Hahah! Thank me as much as you want!" Asmodeus seemed proud of his work. "Nonetheless… This is the limit of how strong you can grow in here, so don't you dare think you can repeat this place over and over again."
"We would rather never do that." Nadia sighed.
"Y-Yeah…" Mina agreed.
"Asmodeus… So you were never an evil bastard?" Surtr asked. "Urgh… Did you had to scare us so much though?!"
"Hah! It was part of the act, brat!" Asmodeus smiled. "Now, it is time for me to depart from my friend's side and join the future Ruler of Muspelheim… You!"
"Hey, I'm going to be the future ruler once Fate breaks and I can revive!" The Venerable of Flames protested.
"You'll have to fight it off with Surtr first. By then he'll be much stronger!" Asmodeus said.
"What did ya say?! Ain't no way he'll get strong enough!" The Venerable barked.
"Erm, did you say something?" Surtr interrupted their banter.
"Right!" Asmodeus nodded, touching Surtr's forehead. "Here!"
FLAAAASH!
