Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Qualification (3)
“……”
“……”
Julius and Alester trudged along in silence.
At a glance, their demeanor might have seemed too peaceful for ones navigating through a labyrinth, but in truth, they had no choice but to act that way.
“Watch out, there’s a trap there—”
Boom.
The trap was smashed.
“Hey, that’s a beast’s nest, don’t provoke it, just keep mov—”
Crash.
The nest was wrecked.
“……”
“……”
That’s how it had been the entire time they traversed the labyrinth.
All of it was because of that man named Aiden, charging ahead of them, relentlessly causing destruction without a moment's pause…
“…Julius. Normally, how long would it take to clear all of this?”
“At the very least, it takes a full day.”
Even for a royal capable of wielding divine power—especially someone ranked among the elite who could conquer the entire labyrinth—it would take an entire day to clear it.
Especially since the deeper they went, the more tasks they encountered that couldn’t be done alone.
That was exactly why the current Pontiff, Abigail III, had caused such a sensation among all the previous pontiffs—because she completed such a course in just ten minutes.
“That guy, he’s the one His Holiness brought in, right?”
“That senile old man—what kind of monster did he bring with him?”
“…Katya’s the only one who ever calls His Holiness that.”
“No, I mean it. Seriously.”
Julius said that with dimmed eyes.
Unable to bring cigarettes into the labyrinth, he smacked his lips a few times as if desperately craving one.
“If the preliminaries end like this… I’m seriously worried about what’s going to happen when the actual ceremony starts. Every power-hungry lunatic across the country will come running at that guy.”
“…No doubt.”
“And the royal contenders in the succession ceremony will start reacting to this too.”
Right now, the factional structure was rock solid—divided between Julius, Alester, and Milene. Those who couldn’t join any of the three factions were left licking their fingers in frustration. But the sudden rise of someone new who might actually be worth backing—that was a whole different matter.
‘…What the hell is that man thinking?’
It almost seemed like the Pontiff himself was deliberately stirring up this chaos.
As Julius sighed inwardly at the thought, Alester suddenly stopped walking and tilted his head.
Because the man who had been walking ahead had come to a halt.
“…He stopped?”
“Well, considering the insane output he’s been showing, maybe he’s finally out of juice.”
Sure, he had blasted through every obstacle worthy of making them think he’d run out—but sustaining that level of output all day long would still be a tough feat.
Even more so, what stood before them now was on a completely different level from any of the previous obstacles they had encountered.
However, the reason Aiden had come to a stop wasn’t because he had exhausted all his supernatural abilities.
…it was just, a bit funny.
‘This reminds me of Reaver.’
Aiden let out a faint chuckle as he looked at the artificial beast in front of him.
It looked exactly like the kind of thing that would bring to mind Soul Reaver, whom he’d entrusted to Morrigan’s care outside.
It wouldn’t be quite right to call it a top-tier beast—but there was no doubt that it had such a strong presence that it felt like a near-perfect imitation.
And that alone made it plenty threatening. After all, the reason Aiden had been able to subjugate Reaver in the first place was because of a perfect storm of overlapping conditions at the time.
Still—
‘At this level, it's worth giving it a shot.’
He couldn’t be sure, but judging by the pace, they had likely shattered all previous records already.
Which meant, if he could just break through this thing, setting a new all-time record probably wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
And more importantly—
‘I know exactly how to beat Reaver.’
Every night.
He saw it in his dreams, dozens, hundreds, thousands of times.
He also had a rough idea of what he’d need for it.
He furrowed his brow slightly and called up the system window in front of him.
Come to think of it, he had left something saved a while back.
A Skill Copy Ticket.
-System Message
▶ You have acquired the skill: Holy Flame Operation – Combustion.
▶ You have acquired the skill: Mana Operation – Basics.
One belonged to the Pontiff, and the other to Morrigan.
‘I should try magic at least once.’
This was one of the combinations he’d been planning to test before even coming in here.
In fact, it was perfect—he finally had a target he could use it on without restraint.
▣
At that very moment—
The department overseeing the preliminaries of the succession ceremony was in a state of absolute emergency.
The sight on the monitors was nothing short of a living nightmare.
“…What the hell is that bastard?!”
“That’s Aiden Kellermain!”
“Did I ask for his name?!”
The department head screamed as he stared at the screen.
He felt like ripping his hair out. Everything he had poured into organizing this event flashed before his eyes like a dying man’s final moments.
‘I put everything into this…!’
It wasn’t just any event—successfully managing the ceremony to transfer the nation’s leadership would skyrocket his evaluation. That’s why he had staked everything on it.
But this Aiden Kellermain was ruining everything.
It wasn’t that he was doing anything particularly grand or complicated.
He simply smashed through every obstacle that was placed in his path.
In the sections where artificial beasts were deliberately placed to give participants a hard time, he smashed through those too and kept advancing.
When they braced themselves and added even more obstacles specifically to prevent that kind of progress, he destroyed those as well and moved forward—
“…What kind of lunatic is this?!”
“……”
The staff members who had been worked to the bone preparing the preliminaries remained silent.
Among them were people who hadn’t been home in a week and had half-joked they’d personally conduct the department head’s funeral—but even they were silent now.
Because even they couldn’t help but sympathize with the department head, who was now clutching his head and screaming in frustration.
“…He’s not just using holy power—he’s a multi-ability user. That’s an unexpected blind spot.”
“Even so, how is that even possible?! Look at him!”
Seeing the department head’s bloodshot eyes, the staffers once again fell silent.
Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
Even if he were a multi-ability user, there was no way he should be able to produce that level of output…
There was supposed to be at least some degree of distinction in these preliminaries, but at this rate, it looked like that man was taking every last bit of spotlight for himself.
“…Do we have the historical records for this?”
Of course, even under these circumstances, it was human nature to act out of curiosity.
Someone, casting a wary glance at the raging department head, whispered to the assistant beside them.
Unlike the head, who was moments away from losing his job, that person was calm enough to wonder how Aiden Kellermain’s current pace compared to the historical records for succession ceremony courses.
Regardless of how extreme his method was, the performance he was displaying now was more than enough to warrant that kind of speculation.
“Give me a second.”
As the assistant dug through the records in response, his expression began to twist.
“…The current record holder for the labyrinth clearance course is…”
He clamped his mouth shut like a clam before he could finish.
“Why?”
When questioned again about his odd reaction, the assistant quietly showed the document he had found to his superior.
And when the superior saw the name written there, his expression instantly turned sour.
“Of course it’s her.”
Then, from behind them, a voice rang out—causing everyone to freeze and turn around.
There stood the Pontiff, arms crossed with an expression of sheer amusement.
Both the senior and assistant staff members immediately turned pale.
The Pontiff wasn’t known to be a tyrant, per se, but her infamous reputation for being lawless and whimsical was something everyone in the Holy Crown Kingdom knew. If you caught her eye in the wrong way, there was no telling what might happen.
As those thoughts ran through their minds, the Pontiff casually strolled over and threw her arms around both of them in a friendly manner as she stared at the screen.
“Let’s see… ten minutes? I really did pretty well back then.”
“……”
“How many minutes is that guy at right now?”
The Pontiff casually placed a hand on the staffer’s shoulder—still hovering over the data—and asked. Though trembling, the staffer somehow managed to check the record.
“Six… minutes.”
“Oh? So it’s about the same as me.”
“……”
The room once again fell into total silence.
…It was clear.
If that man ended up matching the Pontiff’s record, it would be a problem in its own right.
“–Your Holiness, if I may, with all due respect.”
The department head, who had been losing his mind just moments ago, finally spoke up, seemingly representing what everyone else was thinking.
“If it’s with all due respect, don’t say it at all.”
“……”
“I’m joking. Go ahead—what were you about to say?”
…While that remark only cemented her reputation as a truly eccentric monarch—
“That man is a royal by status, and it’s true that he has no disqualifying reason to be excluded from participating in the succession ceremony, however…”
“However?”
“…If that man were to be seriously incorporated into the line of succession, it would cause utter chaos.”
Leadership isn’t something that should be recognized merely by strength.
One must consider the overall influence that person has on the nation.
The succession ceremony is, in truth, more about choosing the one among already-determined candidates who best fits those criteria.
In ancient times, the succession ceremony was a violent battleground—no one knew who would become the Pontiff, and people were desperate enough to kill one another for it. But in modern times, the harms of that approach became so apparent that the process has gradually softened.
One could even say it's become peaceful. Most people now just want those already chosen to sort things out among themselves.
But in such a situation—
If an outsider brought in by the Pontiff suddenly broke records nearly equal to those of a modern Pontiff, then a massive upheaval would ripple through the established power structures.
Even now, when the ceremony is largely agreed upon, casualties still occur. If a new power bloc were added to that chaos, it could very well be the beginning of hell.
“So what?”
…The problem was—
The Pontiff’s tone made it painfully clear she didn’t care much for any of that.
No—more than that.
Her eyes were glowing crimson as she said it.
“I’ll ask again—so what?”
“……”
“Since when did the succession ceremony get dictated by that kind of thing? Hm? It wasn’t supposed to be some peaceful little festival, was it?”
“……”
“That won’t do. People need to try harder to make things fun, don’t you think?”
It sounded as if—
“–And that way, we can filter out the rats who’ve snuck in.”
It sounded as though she had invited that man on purpose just for that.
“Keep it going. Let’s see how far he gets.”
If Aiden broke the Pontiff’s own record through sheer force alone, it would trigger a seismic shift within the Holy Crown Kingdom.
“If he gets past even that, then it really begins.”
That’s when it would truly begin.
–A new wind.
The smile on her face as she said it—
Somehow, it looked like the beginning of a massive storm, one that would sweep through the succession ceremony, all sparked by that man named Aiden.