[Vol. 8] Chapter 118: The Beginning of an Encounter
“Miss Elunie Light, right? You’ll be up very soon. Please get ready to go on stage.”
“Okay, I’ll go now. Thank you, big brother.”
The Lightborn girl politely nodded her head, gently tapping the floor with her wooden stick like a little rabbit as she got ready to go on stage with the help of the holy knight. But just before leaving, she suddenly turned around again. Even though Violet hadn't made a sound, Elunie accurately turned to face her, waved with energy, and gave a bright, pure smile.
“You two big sisters, see you later! I hope the rest of your trial goes well!”
“…Oh, okay. See you later.”
The black-haired girl stood still, quietly watching as Elunie carefully walked toward the stage with the holy knight’s help. After a moment, a curious smile slowly appeared on her face.
“Heh… now this is interesting. Finally met someone worth paying attention to~”
“Master, it’s a bit strange. We never spoke out loud or showed anything in front of her, so how did that girl know we were together? And she seemed really sure that we would…”
Just as Elunie left, the dragon girl who had been secretly watching the conversation came closer. But before she could finish expressing her doubts, Violet gently shook her head.
“That’s not the important part.”
“Elunie’s name wasn’t on the candidate list Edwina gave us. That means she doesn’t meet the usual requirements. But maybe because she has some very special qualities, they made an exception to let her in… That’s quite interesting, don’t you think? Unknown things are often the most exciting. I wonder if her special traits are just coincidence, or if there’s something real behind them.”
“What I find most curious is how she, as a Lightborn, has no magic at all and was born blind. The Lightborn race comes from the [Crownless Crown], and in a way, they were personally nurtured by the [Tree of Creation]. They’re supposed to be nearly perfect in every way. Normally, such a serious condition like blindness shouldn’t even exist in their kind. Could that be connected to her unusual traits?”
The dragon girl frowned and looked off into the distance. Her eyes rested on the small figure standing calmly under the statue, bathed in holy light but completely unaffected by the illusion. She spoke softly.
“Master, you must have seen her inner fear illusion, right? Did Elunie Light’s past explain any of those questions?”
Violet, who was feeling the memories from that place, shook her head slightly and spread her hands.
“I did see something. But honestly, it was all very ordinary. Just small daily worries like food, clothing, and life problems. She seemed like a normal person. There was nothing strange enough to be called a real inner demon. I couldn’t see anything unusual about her at all~”
“That’s surprising.”
The dragon girl looked puzzled.
“Should I go test her a bit? Or maybe ask Edwina now? Since the church made an exception to let her in, they must know something about her.”
“Hmm… no need for that. What the church knows might not be the truth. Instead of letting others influence our thinking, it’s better to find out ourselves. That’s the whole point of this trial, right? If she really is special, it’ll show sooner or later.”
Violet shook her head to stop her dragon from charging in too directly. She didn’t look at the trial participants on the stage anymore. Instead, her eyes turned straight toward the grand golden entrance of the Grand Church.
The real show… was just about to begin.
On the morning of the fourth day since the Chosen Hero Trials officially began, Violet, who had easily passed the preliminary round, walked side by side with her dragon into the Grand Church.
As soon as they entered the main hall, they were greeted by nuns in white robes who had been waiting for them. The nuns led them to a deeper area inside.
They passed through the large and complex buildings of the church, almost like a maze. Along the way, rows of holy knights in shining white armor stood silently on both sides of the hall. Their presence made it clear that everything happening here was arranged and controlled by the church.
The grand white-and-glass architecture of the Grand Church came into view, and with it, a strong sense of seriousness and sacredness. It made most people feel nervous just by walking through.
Of course, Violet wasn’t nervous at all. After all, she already knew what the next trial, and even all the ones after, were going to be. She even knew who was sitting in the judge’s seat, like the "CEO of the company." But after the events of the first trial, she had become genuinely more curious about what was coming next.
Originally, this whole event was something she was forced to set up because of Sethlin’s request. But after all that had happened, it was starting to feel both interesting and meaningful.
Before facing the Twilight Council again, or even that still-unknown group called the World Sustainers, she really did need to gather some strong fighters she could actually use.
Soon, the nun led them to a large open training field inside the Grand Church. It was fully equipped and looked like an official combat arena. As expected, there were already hundreds of people gathered there, all standing quietly and waiting. These were the candidates who had passed the first round of trials.
By the way, this place also held a hidden detail about how Violet had planned the fairness and balance of the trials.
Those who were called early in the first round faced the hardest challenge, since they had no time to prepare before facing their inner fears. But in exchange, they also got more time to rest afterward.
Touching the illusion created by the “Reincarnation” divinity power wasn’t just a dream, it involved deep laws of the world. Even just a bit of contact could place a heavy burden on a human’s spirit. Even if someone managed to get through it, it didn’t mean they were totally fine.
If someone was still worn out, then the second trial would naturally feel even harder. So the later someone faced their fears, the tougher their situation became in the next trial. This created a sort of dynamic balance overall.
As for the unlucky ones who were called early and got caught off guard, maybe they could have passed if they had gone later. Violet simply thought, ‘There’s no such thing as perfect fairness in this world. Those kinds of weaklings who only got by through luck wouldn’t have passed the second trial anyway. So really, it didn’t matter~’
Because Violet and her dragon were both wearing special [Cognitive Obstruction Mask], many people in the area, some of whom were familiar faces, couldn’t recognize her at all. After entering the training ground, Violet casually looked around and soon spotted the Lightborn girl named Elunie.
To her surprise, Elunie was now with Hongyan and Le Qiaoqiao, who had also passed into the second round. Or maybe, more likely, those two noticed the lonely, blind girl looking helpless and sad, and simply went over to help her out of kindness.
That really did sound like something those two would do…