Legendary Architect of Apocalypse

Elias accepted the pleasantries with a polite nod, though he still maintained his guard.

His gaze drifted towards the other group, which included the ones from Chronos. They stood in the distance, gazing back at them. Some of them were talking amongst themselves, while others didn't even pay any attention to them.

Their eyes, unlike the Academy seniors', held no warmth.

'She's strong,' Astralious commented within Elias's mind. 'Stronger than before. I feel as if an unknown force is holding my life and death in its hand, everytime she looks in our direction.'

'It's probably because of her ability. I also feel the same as you. I did hear a few things about her abilities from Freya, and the Identification also gave me some comprehension. She is indeed the most dangerous person here.'

Elias agreed with Astralious. The girl could truly control a person's life and death, with just a single thought, as long as they were in her sight of view.

He wasn't sure how effective her skill was actually going to be on her, if he used the Phoenix Flames to protect his soul, which was the target of her abilities. For now, he didn't want to test it. If he failed, it was only going to waste a revival opportunity.

"Do you think she recognized you as the thief from last time?" Astralious asked Elias.

'I don't think she recognizes us. Even if she had some suspicions, she can't do anything about it as everyone already knows that the Inheritor is someone else.'

The girl had the ability to kill a person's soul, as long as that soul was weaker than hers. It was an ability that could be activated in an instant.

Her ability did help her kill a soul, but it didn't let her see through a soul or the secrets of the soul. Elias had been extremely cautious the last time he came across that girl, intentionally creating a false scent to fool her other senses as well.

Now that he was facing her again, and she didn't try to kill him outright, it confirmed his assumption that she didn't recognise him.

'Any idea why Jeskirin wants me specifically?' Elias thought back, keeping his expression neutral. He changed his question to something that had been bothering him the most, which was his inclusion in the test.

It was evident that the man hated him and wanted him dead. This trip was probably to make it happen. But why exactly did he hate him? Or how did he even want to kill him?

Just as the thought passed, the low hum of the battleship intensified slightly. A section of the metallic door slid open, revealing a command deck beyond.

Stepping out was not a student, but a man clad in the severe, dark uniform of Chronos High Command. It was Jeskirin, the person that had forced Elias into taking part in this trip.

Catching a glimpse of that man was enough for Elias to realise that things were more complicated than he had thought.

The Academy had truly abandoned them, letting a wolf escort them. It was even more surprising since the wolf didn't even belong to the Academy.

The more Elias thought about it, the more his frustration with the Academy increased. Even if they wanted him dead, couldn't they at least not make it this obvious?

"It looks like everyone is here." A woman's voice came, and another person stepped inside the hall.

"Hmm?" When Elias caught the sight of the second person, he was left quite confused as well. It was none other than Freya. She was also accompanying them this time?

Did he underestimate the Academy? They didn't send a professor to escort them, but the Dean herself came? If that was the case, he could at least be slightly relieved that they weren't going to attempt to kill them before they reached their destination.

Freya represented the Academy, and Jeskirin represented Chronos. The two of them were the leaders of this trip. It was enough to confirm the importance of this trip for the two of them.

He still remembered how Freya was greedy to get even one extra spot for her students, even willing to sacrifice him in this deal. This trip was irreplaceable for them, and didn't look like something that was prepared just to ensure that he died.

If he died, then the Academy wasn't going to take responsibility. But they weren't going out of their way to kill him either, since the deal was only to have him included in this trip in one of the extra slots.

'It seems like things aren't as bad as I thought. It might be a lot easier than I thought, if the two seniors aren't going to get down to dealing with me personally.'

If the difficulty of this trip was only along the lines of dealing with those youngsters, then the chances of his Survival had suddenly multiplied. He even felt like he had prepared a little too much, for something so meagre.

He had made his preparation, considering that Jeskirin was going to try to kill him personally. He had even prepared many hidden cards to deal with unexpected situations like that.

'This might be a better trip than I thought.' He thought, his heart calming down significantly.

Freya and Jeskirin were leading the group. Even though almost everyone present here already knew their identity, they still introduced themselves. The introduction was less for their own people, and more for the other side.

"I am Freya, the Dean of the Dimensional Academy, and the host of the second key."

"I am Jeskirin, the Fifth Seat of Chronos, and the temporary host of the first key."

Elias had many questions, especially when they mentioned something called the keys, as if it was an extremely important thing to be a host of those things.

He remembered hearing that his father had also asked his Eldest Brother to retrieve a key from the Land of Fables, to make a deal with Chronos. Was it the same key?

"Keys?"

Elias wasn't alone in his confusion, as many other seniors from the Academy also raised the same question.

They had heard that they would be competing with Chronos representatives. They had been trained for it, throughout the years. But even they didn't know, what were they competing for?

They were trained in many arts, including fighting, infiltration, information gathering and many more. Why did they have to go that far? And just what was this competition? They still had no idea, but they had still given it their all throughout the years.

For them, it was a privilege for them to be selected for this, amongst hundreds of other students of the Academy, something that they could brag about in the future.

It was even said that if they succeeded, they were going to receive huge rewards in the future.

"I am certain that you have many questions, and explaining them would take a lot of time. That's why, I have compiled all the information for you. Take your time to go through it all, and prepare yourself."

All the youngsters were given a thick book that contained hundreds of pages. Once they received the books, they were sent to their rooms to prepare in silence.

The books could have been given to them much earlier, but the worries about the information getting leaked by selected students, made the Academy be more cautious and wait until the last moment.

The youngsters from Chronos were the same. Once they received the books, they also dispersed.

Seven days later, the battleship had already reached their destination, within the Ashborn Family Territory. All the students were told to step out of their rooms and prepare for departure.

Elias stepped out of his room, holding the book in his hand. His face was filled with fascination about the things that he had read.

The book was truly detailed, and included everything, except the information about the keys. All it mentioned about the keys was that they were necessary to open the doors to another realm.

This so-called competition was said to be a competition between two sides, but it wasn't just that. It was much more than that.

It was an invasion into another world, where they didn't just have to compete with each other, but also deal with the natives.

The biggest problem in this test was that the other world wasn't a lower world that could easily be destroyed by them. Instead, it was said to be a comprehensive world, that could be called a high tier upper world.

It was even mentioned that the world was ruled by multiple families, and each of those families were comparable to the founding families of the Dimensional Academy.

The world was also said to be filled with resources that were scarce even in the upper worlds. If it wasn't for the limitation in the gateway, even the older and more powerful Overlords from this world would have invaded that world already.

The only thing that had stopped the invasion of the Upper World Families was the limitation of the gate and the lack of understanding about how to create a rift that led to that world without limitation.

For now, the limitation only allowed those who hadn't surpassed their fifth evolution, and were under twenty years of age, to pass through which couldn't really threaten that world.