POV: Seraphine V. DuMont
Another scream.
Another fallen body.
Another corpse.
Seraphine's mana-enhanced vision swept across the battlefield like a hawk's.
She updated the tactical map in her mind moment by moment. It was exhausting, but necessary.
Complaining was a luxury she couldn't afford here.
The chaos of the trial was only half accidental.
Everything in this hell-maze had been designed to test survival at its most basic level.
VIPs were forced to get their hands dirty. Just like she was doing now.
Seraphine had memorized the list of every student participating in this trial.
She knew this area better than anyone.
Who would survive.
Who would freeze.
Who would break, and who would shine.
Dark horses. Bloodlines. Talents. Traits. Hidden advantages. Buried flaws.
Everything had been measured through magic, observation, and preparation.
Of course, she wasn't alone.
Some had been trained from birth. Others leaned on instinct. Many relied on the groundwork laid by powerful families.
But the most basic rule remained unchanged.
The weak were collateral against monsters.
She felt no pity for them. They should never have entered in the first place.
That was why Seraphine froze when she saw the boy stand up.
"That boy… had just died."
She was certain.
A gargoyle had lifted him into the air and smashed him into the ground.
His neck twisted.
His chest collapsed.
No breath. No movement.
The stone beneath him had been soaked in blood. His blood.
She had seen it herself.
Short black hair. No armor. No glow. No magic. No other bullshit!!
The impact had been brutal. She could still hear the sound of bones breaking.
Many others had died the same way in this place.
They had stayed dead.
But now, he was standing.
He wiped blood from his mouth. His lips moved.
"Is he…?" Seraphine stared, unable to hide her shock. The expression on his face didn't belong to this nightmare.
The dead boy was smiling.
"Actually, he isn't dead anymore."
Her first question surfaced.
"How?"
She stepped closer, scanning him for any trace of magic. A glyph. A charm. An external spell.
A smuggled artifact would explain it. Cheating, yes, but at least it would make sense.
There was nothing.
The air was clean. The aether was still.
Yet moments ago, he had been dead.
"Necromancy?"
No. This was not a dragged soul. Not a known dark art.
He had risen on his own.
No external force. No invisible hand.
Everything about it was wrong.
Seraphine infused her eyes with a trace of mana and met his gaze.
He looked back at her.
She forced herself not to flinch.
Only his eyes moved. Not his head.
That was creepy as hell.
Something cold spread through her chest. Part fear. Part curiosity. Mostly imbalance.
Everyone here was supposed to be equal.
Same bodies. Same low cultivation levels. Basic weapons and no heirlooms.
Some were nobleborn. Others had trained longer. But all were bound by the same rules.
And now, one of them was moving as if those rules didn't apply.
She couldn't make sense of it.
Fu*k!
Even the monsters they had been fighting for hours were ignoring him!
It was absurd.
As if reality itself was mocking her.
Mocking the Crown Princess of Vera.
She kept swinging her blade, barking orders at the stunned candidates around her.
The black-haired creep walked through the chaos like he was in a children's playground, while everyone else fought tooth and nail just to stay alive.
It wasn't fair.
She pushed deeper into dangerous territory to close the distance.
She ran. She attacked. She cut down every monster in her path. Explosions went off beside her, but she ignored them.
Another student's blood splashed across her arm. She didn't react. Her eyes never left him.
She didn't blink while running. Fighting. Killing.
This had never been fair.
Then the second question formed.
"Why?"
Something inside her cracked.
Years of effort, ambition, and desperate preparation suddenly felt meaningless.
Seraphine tilted her head slightly. Her lips trembled. Her eyes burned, wet at the edges.
This boy wasn't just an anomaly.
He was outside her kingdom's entire intelligence network.
Fu*k me!
At this rate, he would surpass her in this exam!
Years of preparation, and she had never imagined something like this.
Seraphine V. DuMont
First Princess of the Vera Kingdom,Crown Heir of the Southern Vera Continent.
For the first time in her life, she felt threatened by someone her own age.
And finally, she asked the right question.
"Who are you?"