The spear stabbed right through the Minotaur's head and killed it instantly; its massive body fell to the ground.

[You have gained 300 EXP, 200 soul shards]

Jake was feeling happy because he had landed the last blow on the Minotaur. He forgot that he had left Ophelia unprotected.

A portal appeared behind her, and a Minotaur walked out. It saw her and immediately raised its axe. Ophelia turned around, she saw the axe and froze in fear. Her body trembled; she could barely move in the face of death.

The Minotaur swung down. Jake and Crypt dashed, running at their top speed. Crypt's speed was fast enough to be mistaken for teleportation, and yet it wasn't enough as he wouldn't make it in time.

Jake leaped from the roof, stretching out his hands in the hope that he would reach, though it was impossible.

He saw the axe reach her, and the blade touched her skin. Fear gripped him, the horror of her death flashed before his eyes. He couldn't do anything to save her.

"Opheliaaaaaaa!" he screamed from the bottom of his lungs, his words cutting through the air and reaching her ears.

She heard his shout, and it was as if something was triggered within her—something awakened. Her body suddenly exploded with a bright white light.

Booooom.

The explosion formed a massive dome of light that kept spreading. Jake tried to run into the light and save Ophelia, but Crypt grabbed him and pulled him away.

"No, she's in there," he yelled, but Crypt pulled him away. He kept running with Jake under his arm, trying his best to outrun the light.

The light spread for a five-hundred-meter radius and then finally stopped. Jake looked in that direction, scared of what he would see—destruction? Chaos? But when he looked, he didn't see any of that.

Instead, all the monsters had been killed by the light, but not a single human within the light had died, nor was any building destroyed.

Jake didn't waste time trying to think about what happened and how it happened. He dashed in, running toward Ophelia.

Bodies of monsters littered the floor. They weren't destroyed, but there was no life in them anymore; they were empty husks.

He ran in, scared that something terrible might have happened to Ophelia. He kept running until he finally spotted her body on the ground.

He rushed to her, kneeling down beside her and looking at her. She was out, but she was still breathing, meaning she was alive.

He carried her from the ground, checking if she was injured in any way, but she wasn't. He heaved a deep sigh of relief and then placed his head on hers.

"I'm sorry, Ophelia. I'm really sorry," he said. He took her in his hands, a princess carry, and then summoned all his skeletons and ogres.

They walked beside him as he walked down the street. He wanted to do all he could to make sure that not even the smallest amount of hurt came to her.

He walked through the streets, and to his surprise, there was not a single portal around. But Crypt still kept his guard up.

Suddenly, Whisper appeared beside Jake. Jake would have been a bit scared to see Whisper before, but now he wasn't in the mood. He simply looked at the Whisper.

"What do you want?" he asked.

The Whisper glanced at Ophelia, then looked at Jake.

{Attachments during the trial are detrimental.}

"Don't teach me anything. What I do isn't part of your job, right?" Jake asked.

{Indeed, it is not. But I honestly think you shouldn't do it. But that's not why I'm here. You have survived the first phase of the second trial, but it only gets worse from here.

Your reward for surviving is simply the time for the next phase. Ready yourself, because in three days the second stage of hell will come. Enjoy the farmer's harvest.}

The Whisper vanished immediately after.

"Three days... I'll be ready," Jake muttered. Now that he knew the phase was over, he unsummoned all his undead besides Crypt.

He headed back to his home on foot. He made it to the door, opened it, and walked in. Luckily, the chaos had not touched the house.

He walked in with Ophelia, got up to her room, and laid her on the bed. He knelt down beside her and looked at her, wondering if she was fine and if she would come out of this state.

Knock knock.

He heard knocks on the door. He left Crypt in her room and walked downstairs. Opening the door, he saw John standing there, a cigar in his mouth. He pulled it out and blew a puff of smoke at Jake.

He walked in without waiting for Jake and walked to a chair. He sat down and leaned back into the chair.

"How was your trial?" he asked.

Jake, not caring about how John was behaving, walked to the chair and sat down as well. "Messed up like the first," he replied.

"Well, get yourself together. It's only just starting," John replied and drew in another smoke. He blew it out and reclined even more into the chair.

"These trials are different from what I know. It seems far more dangerous for a start. It's not only targeting the Chosen, but it's actively attacking the commoners and people that have nothing to do with the trials," John said. He shut his eyes and took another drag on the cigar.

"Do you know why?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. I did some digging a few minutes ago in the cellar. I saw a book about something related. There have been several special anniversary trials that have happened in the past.

And they all have one thing in common: they were all massively bloodier and more destructive than the rest as a whole.

But even after I got digging, I discovered that none actively came for the people not part of the trial as much as this one has done in only two phases.

Something is very different about this one. It's off-putting. But there is nothing we can do about it," John said.

"So we'll keep going every day, killing monsters, putting our lives on the line, and also running around?" Jake asked.

"Well, yeah. It's not like we can do anything about it. You could wait, sit and do nothing, but in the end, all Chosen will die if you are not the winner," John said.

Jake stared at John. He thought about how they couldn't trust each other, and how someone had also tried to assassinate him.

'I'm too stressed for all this investigation shit. I'll ask him outright, and if he lies, I'll know and take him down,' Jake thought. He opened his mouth to speak, but John beat him to it.

"Someone tried to assassinate me. Luckily for me, I had my ability and managed to turn the tables," John said.

Jake watched his words with his ability, and all turned green, meaning that John wasn't lying.

"They attacked me as well. Almost died. He used a black poison needle," Jake said.

"Thought as much. When I was attacked, it felt random, so I thought about what could possibly be the cause, and I realized that the egg we found must have been it.

I just had to come and confirm, and since they came after you, then I can confirm that someone wants to take us out. And I feel you already know who our first suspect is," John said.

"Scarlet," Jake replied.

"Exactly. She possesses the money, the connections—everything that you could possibly need to set up an assassination.

But inasmuch as the assassins were top-notch, I can say for a fact that if Scarlet wanted us dead, there is no way we could escape it.

The type of power she holds isn't something we can deal with on our own. But then again, it doesn't rule her out.

So tomorrow, you and I will be paying her a visit. Even if she didn't do it, she is the best person to help us find out who wants us dead, or help us with any leads," John said. He took another drag from the cigar and then sat up.

"You should get some rest. I'm sure today was stressful for you. I'll be leaving now," John said and got up.

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