Numbers x Casket-Chapter 43: Disaster Level

Back in the open field, the appraiser’s trial gathered a lot of attention. Some of the mages present during the ball recognized him, while the rest of the equators became curious about what kind of illusion he was currently facing.

Beads of sweat covered the entirety of his face while his hands trembled, clenching into fists, but after a few more seconds of this silent struggle, his body came to a halt before it fell, lying on the hot-dusted ground.

"Did he fail?" someone asked from a distance.

"I think he’s not; look carefully," another replied.

Blue light covered the appraiser’s body; despite him being unconscious and unaware of his surroundings, the spell indicated that he passed the first event.

"We need a healer here!" Alleah yelled, her voice laced with worry.

She squinted her eyes in confusion; her spell was supposed to be an illusion without any kind of harm. Its purpose was only to test the participants’ mentality, and yet someone lost consciousness, though he still managed to pass the trial.

’There’s definitely something that even I, the caster, had no knowledge about,’ Alleah thought without averting her gaze from the young equator.

. . . . .

The endless darkness remained, and the clones were still out there, standing around the appraiser, while the magic circle made from blood had already faded underneath. There were no other notable changes aside from the red string fluttering in the wind.

The Hemlock dashed forward, ignoring all the clones; he followed the red string and halted only upon seeing a small orange butterfly levitating behind the sea of clones.

The end of the string was attached to its tail, and from the Hemlock’s perspective, he identified the insect as the first butterfly that the appraiser saw earlier.

"You’ve really found me... I guess." Xenen’s voice echoed, though it showed no sign of anxiousness; it remained calm and collected while facing the Hemlock lurking inside the appraiser.

Then, the Silver Hemlock dashed forward and grabbed the butterfly. He imprisoned it on the palm of his hand, shattering the entirety of its wings while crushing its body.

He felt not an ounce of resistance coming from the creature, and Xenen’s presence vanished along with all the clones. Cracks appeared across the horizon, and pieces fell one after the other.

"Now, even I have no idea what is real," the hemlock stated, his gaze having a tinge of curiosity.

Then, the appraiser’s eyes went back to their normal black color as he regained control of his body.

Despite not being the one in action, he knew all the things that happened as he watched everything in silence. After all, the hemlock couldn’t take hold of his body without his approval.

During the fight earlier, before his imminent death, the monarch asked him for a switch, and with him left without any options, he gave his permission.

Efraim, who was still dazed about what happened, stared in front, where a silhouette of a woman materialized. However, it didn’t last long, and he failed to see her exact appearance. The image dissipated into thin air before materializing in full.

"Are you still out there, Xenen?" Efraim asked despite knowing that he would receive no response.

He stayed in that position for a moment, looking at the world falling, crumbling apart, but his thoughts had nothing aside from the Farfalla’s daughter. Her sudden appearance along with her existence left a puzzle for him to solve.

Then, as the last fragment of the world fell, Efraim woke up from the clutches of illusion, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the ground with people staring at him with curious gazes.

And this alone was enough for him to doubt even further. Thus, to avoid any more conflict, he stood up and acted like there was nothing wrong about the trial.

"I managed to pass, right?" he stated with an awkward smile.

Then, the people around him looked at each other for a second before nodding.

"Yes, you emitted blue light, but you collapsed all of a sudden, making us nervous for a moment," the healer replied.

Efraim chuckled upon hearing the statement and smiled.

"I just passed out from exhaustion; I felt tired after experiencing my greatest fear," he answered, twisting his words a little to suit a suitable excuse.

The people were a little bit dumbfounded by his response, but they chose not to delve into it any further. However, it was different from the host, the one who cast the spell.

She stared at the appraiser with a silent gaze, though her mind was in an intense vortex of thoughts.

’He’s definitely hiding something. I’m sure of it,’ Alleah declared within herself.

. . . . .

As more individuals passed the trial, the first event came to an end. The thousand participants were reduced to almost half, and the host proceeded to explain the details of the next event. However, some of the people voiced their concern regarding the task.

"Is that too dangerous? Some of us were just Second String Equator; facing a monster classified as disaster level alone was a straight suicide!" a man with a pair of gauntlets spoke for the participants.

Upon hearing his explanation, some showed their support through constant yelling and booing.

"But that’s the Grand Lord’s—" Alleah tried to reply, but the Fourth Pillar extended his hand and sfopped her from explaining any further.

"Let me take it from here," Zeyn stated.

Then he stepped forward and let his eyes roam on the crowd. The cacophony of murmurs turned into a pleasing silence as the equators waited for the Fourth Pillar’s next set of words.

"Listen, everyone! The monsters you’re going to battle against are all tamed beasts especially prepared for this event," Zeyn announced.

Then, upon seeing that he still had all the people’s attention, he didn’t hesitate to speak again.

"We make sure that a lot of healers are present, and our mages, even I myself, are here to rescue if something unexpected happens," Zeyn said, pointing at the mages on the side.

Then, he reverted his gaze back to the participants.

"Aside from this, isn’t the purpose of our event to find the strongest? If a simple Disaster-class beast is enough to make you guys shake in fear, maybe you need to think twice about why you are standing in front of us right now," Zeyn added.

The equators fell into a much deeper silence; they couldn’t find the words to reply to the man. They felt slapped by the truth, making most of the participants contemplate even further.

Their next task was to have a duel against a beast, but not a simple beast. It was considered Disaster Level.

. . . . .

In the Oriental Plains, beasts were divided into ranks like the equators. Those that were treated as harmless beings and could be hunted even alone were called Dairy Levels. While those that could threaten a person’s safety were classified as Storm Levels.

Meanwhile, if the monster required a team to be hunted and its strength had the potential to destroy a small town, it was referred to as a Disaster Level beast. Basilisks, dire wolves, three-eyed monkeys, and groups of giant scorpions fell into this category.

Next to this were the Catastrophe Level beasts, considered a threat to a whole faction, and no things were sitting on top of it aside from creatures treated as legends—dragons, phoenixes, and other beasts enough to cause a massive destruction.

. . . . .

As the concern about the beasts died down, there were some who chose to forfeit the challenge, as they did not have enough courage to face a disaster-level one in a battle.

"Anyone who still wants to give up on this event, I’m giving you another minute to leave the line and join the audience’s seat," Alleah announced.

However, the people who remained standing had already strengthened their resolve to face the task. So, even after a minute, no one chose to leave.

The second event began, and the contestants showed their uniqueness in handling such situations. Some mages who were adept at controlling the land made traps underneath while evading their beast opponent.

Then luring them into the pit and dealing the final blow once they were inside. However, this only worked for low-mobility monsters, as when a mage faced a three-eyed monkey, it just leaped back to the surface, ignoring the trap.

Meanwhile, warriors faced their opponents head-on. With their large swords, they went toe-to-toe with the creatures. Some passed with ease, while others managed to win due to luck.

Efraim watched every battle while carefully observing his potential opponents, and then, after a few hours of watching in silence, his turn to fight finally came.

He stepped inside the stage area and looked at the magic circle glowing a short distance away from him.

’A basilisk, even a wolf, anything is doable,’ he thought.

The pattern emitted a white hue, and an ear-piercing screech echoed in the place and caught everyone’s attention. Then, upon seeing the monster in full, their eyes squinted in surprise.

"A dragon? I-Impossible. Is that even a Disaster Level?" someone uttered.

"How do you face that thing?" another commented.

Meanwhile, the appraiser felt confused for a moment, but his lips turned into an upward grin the next second. Standing before him was a monster he would never forget.

A snout and scales similar to a dragon, a black serpentine body with two short claws, and hundreds of spikes protruding from its back. Though it had a different attribute from the one he faced before, for the appraiser they were all the same.

"A lindworm is a lindworm," Efraim said.

. . . . .