Chapter 63: Second Trial

The rest of the day passed by quickly.

By afternoon until evening, Raive went with Reinhardt and cleared the remaining dungeons, gathering enough skill books for everyone with some to spare.

The rest were already back, resting at Hershey’s home, with a recovered Shymine keeping an eye on them.

Once they woke, Raive told them to pick the skills they liked and upgrade them to level 3 right away. They had more than enough resources; there was no reason to hold back.

With everyone’s stats already at +100, there was no worry about their vessels overflowing either.

So the next day, Raive made a quick trip to the nearest dungeon, roughly five kilometers out, and overwrote his save. Once he’s back, he stood outside Hershey’s house, staring at the still-dark sky with a frown.

He looked up at the timer, now counting down its final minutes.

’We’ve done everything we can to prepare. Everyone’s at their peak. All that’s left is to see it through.’ Raive thought.

Maxed-out stats, extra skills, enough combat experience to not go down easy.

And still, Raive felt uneasy.

He couldn’t explain it, but the feeling wouldn’t let go—a nagging suspicion that he was missing something, circling endlessly in his head.

He was certain he’d covered every angle, prepared for anything that might blindside them. So why the unease? He had no answer for that either.

"Everyone, it’s about time."

Raive turned, facing the team gathered around him.

Shymine, Hershey, Therese, Khamish, Hazel, Reinhardt, Sheila, Kenny, and Patricia.

Everyone accounted for.

Not only that, they were armed to the teeth—modified military uniforms, helmets with flashlights, and weapons pulled from a special drop Raive and Reinhardt had farmed together. They could never be more prepared.

The countdown broke past its last ten seconds, and nerves spiked across the group.

"Everyone, hold hands in a circle." Raive suggested. "My precognition tells me this’ll keep us together during the transport."

It was a bluff, of course.

He hadn’t seen a thing about the trial yet. But he was fairly sure proximity and connection played some role in where people ended up after they were moved to the trial space.

If they scattered across different zones for the second trial, keeping everyone safe would be next to impossible.

Staying together mattered most.

But what if this trial worked like the first, with a hard cap on survivors?

Raive considered it, then dismissed it.

The first trial had been about culling the weak and the greedy—he was sure of that much. Whatever the second one entailed, it wasn’t likely to be another straightforward numbers game. It would be something worse. Something more twisted.

Everyone gripped the hands beside them tightly, as if searching for something to steady their nerves.

Then, as the counter hit zero...

WHOOSH!

A blinding white light swallowed everyone’s senses. Even Raive had to force his eyes shut against the glare.

When he opened them again, all he could do was stare in awe.

Unlike the first trial, which had started them off in something like an underground prison, this time they stood in a courtyard within what looked like a medieval castle city. The sky was even a clear blue, peaceful and welcoming.

Raive felt that it had been a while since he had seen such a blue sky.

Counting the presences around him, there had to be at least a thousand people present here.

"This is...?"

"A-Another trial..."

"Woah, it’s a castle! Look!"

Thankfully, the whole team had made it through together.

Raive wasn’t sure if it was the hand-holding or just their proximity beforehand, but either way, it had worked in their favor.

Like them, the others scattered across the courtyard were looking around, dazed.

And just as the anxiety and curiosity in the crowd reached a peak—

[Ahh... Welcome to the second trial...]

A lethargic voice echoed inside everyone’s head.

Looking up, Raive found another archangel with six pairs of wings, a different being from the one during the first trial.

She had the same golden hair, same pristine white wings—but her expression was pure exhaustion, as though she’d rather be anywhere else than presiding over their suffering.

[The second trial is simple...] The angel continued.

[All you need to do is protect this city from monster attacks for a full day. There’s a giant crystal at the center of the castle. Keep it safe for a full day, and you win. Survivors clear the trial regardless of how much they contributed.]

Raive frowned at that.

The first trial had been a maze laced with danger, efficient at thinning them out while dangling false hope. This time, a simple city defense? Even accounting for the seeds of distrust they’d obviously planted at the end, something about it felt off.

It was too simple.

[Also...]

Right on cue, the archangel continued.

Her voice picked up an edge of excitement that turned Raive’s blood cold. Her eyes lit up as she spoke, clear and loud.

[A few among you are monsters in disguise, replacing the original. A traitor carrying all their memories and emotions.]

[Kill a traitor, and the one they replaced is automatically saved. But if even one traitor survives when the defense ends, everyone fails, and everyone dies!]

"..."

Raive felt something in him ease. His worries, it turned out, hadn’t been unfounded after all.

His mouth curled into a fierce grin.

There it was—the trial was still exactly as insidious as he’d expected.

With that last detail dropped, distrust would spread fast. Strangers, all of them, from the start—it was always easier to suspect the person next to you than to trust them.

A few already tightened their grips on their weapons, eyeing the people beside them.

Raive let a thread of bloodlust slip loose, enough to warn off anyone tempted to aim at his people. But he held still, watching the angel, waiting for whatever came next.

[...I expected you’d all start killing each other by now. Looks like you’ve got yourselves a good shepherd.]

The archangel sighed, her eyes cutting straight toward Raive.

No mistaking it—she was looking right at him.

[An irregular, huh. Well, anyway, one last thing to mention.]

She said, flashing a smile sweet enough to charm anyone who saw it. Raive felt nothing but revulsion looking at it—an expression that had no humanity behind it at all.

[The traitor doesn’t know they’re the traitor. The only thing setting them apart is this: their heart is hollow.]

"...!"

A cold shiver ran down Raive’s spine at that.

Because it meant he could be the traitor himself, and have no way of knowing it.

He glanced at his team, watching everyone’s anxious expressions, and his frown deepened.

’The traitor could be among us.’