Born Without Magic… So What?

In Sunlight Town’s slum area...

Every person suddenly stopped moving at the exact same moment.

It was as if time itself had frozen.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

They all stood perfectly still.

Then...

Before anyone could understand what was happening, their eyes slowly turned completely black.

One after another...

Every person in the slum stood motionless.

The strange silence spread through the entire area.

At the same time...

Inside the slum castle, all of the guards also became completely lifeless.

Their bodies stood straight without moving.

Their eyes slowly turned black, just like everyone else.

Even the Lord of the slum wasn’t spared.

His eyes also turned black, and he stood there without a single expression on his face.

Within only a few moments...

The entire slum area had become exactly the same.

Everyone stood there like lifeless puppets.

Not a single person moved.

Not a single voice could be heard.

On another side...

The Sunlight Town soldiers guarding the wall noticed something strange.

From a distance, they saw all the people in the slum standing perfectly still, facing forward without moving.

The strange sight immediately made them alert.

At first, they thought the people of the slum were planning something.

They quickly tightened their grip on their weapons while continuing to watch the silent crowd from the city wall, waiting for whatever would happen next.

The slave market was crowded with nobles from many different kingdoms.

Huge tents had been built all across the market, and every tent held countless slaves.

In total...

There were more than 5,000 slaves gathered in this massive slave market.

It was far larger than any ordinary slave auction.

No buyer could inspect every slave in a single day.

Even if they continued buying without stopping...

It would still take more than a week to finish checking everyone.

The entire market was filled with noise.

Nobles bargained over prices.

Merchants shouted offers.

Slave traders introduced their merchandise one after another.

Meanwhile...

Arya quietly walked out from the tent where he had been standing guard.

Without drawing anyone’s attention...

He slowly walked toward the very center of the slave market.

Then...

He stopped.

At that exact moment...

A familiar notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[ Are you ready for a new evolution? ]

Arya silently looked at the screen.

Another notification appeared.

[ Do you want to evolve into a Demon Lord? ]

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Then another message appeared.

[ If you want to become a Demon Lord... ]

[ You must kill 50,000 people. ]

Arya quietly stared at the notification.

Then another message appeared.

[ And remember what I told you before. ]

[ After reaching Level 150, you have become eligible to challenge the Demon Lord Trial. ]

[ Your current level is 150. ]

[ You have fulfilled all the requirements needed to begin this trial. ]

[ Once the trial starts, there is no turning back. ]

[ Are you ready to begin the Demon Lord Trial? ]

[ Also remember... ]

[ Only the people you kill after starting this trial will be counted. ]

[ No matter how many people you killed before... ]

[ None of them count. ]

One final message appeared.

[ Are you ready to start the trial? ]

Kill Count: 0 / 50,000

Arya slowly took a deep breath.

Without any hesitation...

He quietly said,

"I’m ready."

"Start the trial."

The system immediately responded.

[ Demon Lord Trial has started. ]

Another notification appeared.

[ You have 24 hours to complete this trial. ]

[ If you fail... ]

[ Your kill count will return to zero. ]

[ The next trial will also begin from zero. ]

[ Remember... ]

[ If you fail this trial... ]

[ You will have to wait years before you are given another chance. ]

The final notification appeared before him.

[ Time has started. ]

A black timer slowly appeared beneath the notification.

24:59:30

The numbers immediately began counting down.

Second...

After second...

The timer continued moving.

Arya quietly looked at it.

His expression didn’t change.

Not even a little.

Then Arya looked at everyone in front of him.

His eyes slowly swept across the entire slave market.

Nobles...

Merchants...

Guards...

Slaves...

Everyone was still busy with their own work.

Then Arya quietly activated his Telepathy skill.

On the other side...

Miyuki suddenly heard a familiar voice inside her mind.

"Arya...?"

Then Arya said,

"Hello."

"Are you listening to me?"

Miyuki immediately replied,

"Yes."

"I can hear you."

Arya continued,

"I’ve already started."

"Now only this area is left."

"When this area is under control too..."

"The ritual will begin."

He didn’t mention the trial.

Because he knew Miyuki wouldn’t understand what the trial really meant.

So he simply called it a ritual.

Arya continued speaking,

"After a few minutes..."

"Come to the center of the market."

"Okay?"

Miyuki answered without hesitation,

"Okay."

"I’ll be there on time."

The Telepathy connection quietly ended.

Arya slowly lowered his head for a moment.

Then he gave a silent order to every Shadow Monster under his control.

There were already countless Shadow Monsters.

Each one was capable of creating more duplicates.

The moment Arya gave the command...

They silently began spreading throughout the entire market.

Some moved toward the nobles.

Some headed toward the merchants.

Some quietly approached the guards.

Others slowly surrounded the slaves inside the cages.

Without anyone noticing...

The shadows had already begun covering every part of the slave market.

Until now...

No one had noticed anything.

Everyone was still busy buying slaves.

Some nobles carefully inspected the slaves one by one before making their choice.

Others were arguing loudly over the prices.

Several wealthy nobles even started competing against each other, offering more money just to buy the same slave.

Some merchants kept increasing the bids without hesitation.

The entire slave market was filled with noise.

People were busy talking...

Arguing...

And bargaining.

Not a single one of them realized what was slowly happening around them.

They had no idea...

That something far more terrifying than a slave auction had already begun.

Then Arya gave the order to all of the Shadow Monsters.

Without making a single sound...

They slowly began taking over the bodies of every person around them.

One after another...

The Shadow Monsters entered their bodies.

At first, nothing seemed different.

Then...

Their eyes slowly changed into a deep black color.

Their expressions became completely lifeless.

One by one...

Every person stood perfectly still.

From the outside...

It looked as if they had suddenly become emotionless puppets.

But inside...

They were still alive.

They couldn’t control their own bodies anymore.

When a Shadow Monster completely took control of someone’s body...

The real person inside would fall into a deep sleep.

They couldn’t see...

They couldn’t hear...

They couldn’t feel what was happening outside.

They had no idea what was happening to their own bodies.

Only the Shadow Monsters remained in control.

And all of it happened so quietly...