"Haa…"
A sigh rang through an empty battlefield.
Aside from the woman who voiced it, there were only corpses littering the ground.
Hundreds of thousands, no, millions of corpses surrounded the body of a single woman as she stood and bathed in the bloody light of the red sun.
30 days.
It felt like an eternity, but now, it was finally over.
This hell, she never once thought she would experience something like it. Even in Eien, she'd never seen such a situation where a single being was forced to face the onslaught of countless enemies with similar strength to them.
If it wasn't a trial situation that wasn't inherently trying to kill her, Xinyue was sure she would've died.
But did she regret accepting the trial?
'Absolutely not.'
It was a definitive answer. Through the past month of battle, the most valuable thing she gained was experience. This level of battle experience was impossible to earn without strenuous situations to promote it, and since Xinyue was always sheltered as the Ancient God Clan's Young Master, despite her power and ability, she'd never truly had the chance to risk her life.
This time, she saw a comprehensive increase in strength, ranging from her physical body to even her law comprehension.
And as if that wasn't enough, she even felt like she was touching upon something greater, albeit faintly.
"Take me back."
Now that she'd squeezed the benefits out of this place, there was no reason to stay.
Her body turned into a beam of light upon her declaration, and in the next instant, the bloody smell she'd gotten so used to disappeared.
What greeted her was instead…
"Hahaha! What a show! Girl, I didn't expect you'd do so well!"
The call of a strange man.
Xinyue's face fell. She almost forgot about this man's existence during her time fighting. The small goal she'd made with him in mind held no stock against her true ambitions, after all.
"Where is the Sky Emperor?" She asked. She didn't want to deal with this man more than she had to.
However, he smiled slyly in response to her question. "That old man? Well, he's feeling a bit of shame for his living self's actions so he's hiding somewhere around here."
"Shame?"
"Right, right. See, hmm, how do I put this…aha!"
"You've been scammed!"
Xinyue's face fell even further. "Are you insinuating that a great emperor scammed me?"
"No, don't misunderstand me. I'm not insinuating anything, I'm saying it outright."
"Are you going to keep evading my question until I'm forced to be ruthless?"
"Ahhh! Senior Sky Emperor, help me! Your inheritor is trying to kill me!"
The man yelled with so little enthusiasm that it was hard to take him seriously, especially since he didn't move from his slumped position even once.
Nevertheless, he didn't leave Xinyue to seethe for too long.
After his little stint of teasing was over, he calmly explained the situation to Xinyue, allowing her to understand the truth behind this legacy tomb.
"Are you being serious right now?"
Despite the fact that she was the one asking the question, she knew full well the answer.
Merely, she was in such disbelief and rage that she had to ask again.
"Sky Emperor…how pathetic." Xinyue coldly uttered.
The air fluctuated as if the Sky Emperor's soul wisp twitched in response to Xinyue's changed opinion, but Xinyue didn't care at all.
She was irked, but she wasn't too offended. After all, the trial she'd endured was far more valuable than any technique the Sky Emperor could've given her.
Merely…
"Relax."
The man's voice rang out again, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"While that old fart can't give you anything, aren't I still here? While I'm not some great emperor, I don't have any problem sponsoring a genius. How about it, are you interested?"
The man lifted his body and smiled lightly as he looked at her.
There couldn't have been a more untrustworthy expression to use at this moment.
Every fiber of Xinyue's body was telling her to reject the offer purely because of this man's connection to it, however…
'He somehow got his hands on All-Seeing Eyes, a feat that should be impossible. Even if he isn't some great persona, the master behind him should not be a small force.'
"Okay, I will accept your offer."
The decision was made in a split second, causing the man to smile.
"Good! I like decisive people like you. I think we'll get along well in the future."
"I have no interest in getting along with you."
"Aww, come on, Xinyue. Haven't we become close comrades after this experience?"
"There is no such thing."
"Hm? How could that be?"
"I don't even know your name, let alone how you are as a comrade. With your unreliable appearance, I have no interest in learning either."
The man grinned slightly.
His body vanished, reappearing before Xinyue before she could even react.
"Aha, was that the only problem? Well, solving that is simple…"
The man's arm flashed. His hand was gripping Xinyue's shoulder before she could even process the sensation.
As her eyes widened, as her mana flared into the surroundings…
"…my name is Damien Void."
"What are you—"
A current of mana covered the duo, and they disappeared from the Sky Emperor Palace altogether.
Not even a trace of their existence remained.
***
"—doing?!"
Xinyue's body lurched forward suddenly. Unable to react to the sudden change, she tripped and fell to the floor.
The scent of grass filled her nose. She sat up, wiping the mud that stained her face.
'Wait…grass?'
Xinyue's eyes widened as she shot up. Her awareness spread into the surroundings, allowing her to witness a truly mystical sight.
A continent that spanned the entirety of her awareness filled with beings of many different races, the architectural style was a mix of extremely futuristic designs and more ancient classical themes, and due to the fact that elves lived in this place, the architecture was built into nature rather than overriding it.
This created a truly unique atmosphere unseen in any world.
The strength of beings was nothing much to brag about, with a majority of them being 3rd class, but there were still at least several thousand 4th class troops present on this continent.
Xinyue and Damien were standing at the edge of the continent, one of the rare pieces of land that remained purely natural.
Looking down upon civilization from this point, Xinyue didn't know what to think.
"This…what is this?" She asked, baffled.
Damien smiled and responded matter-of-factly, "This is Theavel."
Without explaining further, he started making his way down the cliff, entering the city below.
Without any clue what else to do, Xinyue followed.
The duo made their way through the city, allowing Xinyue to witness the pure innovation of this new society. As several very different races lived in harmony, civilization saw a huge boost and evolved into something great.
Whether it was for technology, politics, economy, or even social issues, this place seemed to have sorted out a system to deal with them all effectively without leaving anyone dissatisfied.
It was an impossible society.
Xinyue followed Damien through the city for almost half an hour before they reached the city center. Here, along with various skyscrapers, was one smaller building that took the very central position of the city.
Seeing it, Damien stopped and looked over his shoulder with a smile.
"Welcome to the Void Library. This is the greatest store of knowledge in Theavel, and also the source of your opportunity. I hope you enjoy your stay."
