Death... and me

Chapter 3676: You May Begin

Winner? What winner? That was the thought on Gamera, Futsuka, and Fishel’s minds. They killed a few experts in this chaos. Could it be that they also killed the other chosen without noticing? After all, they are still alive, so they must be the winner.

The kid didn’t say anything, waving his hand. Immediately, the illusions that changed everyone’s appearances disappeared, allowing the experts to recognize each other. All their senses were released too, and they could even talk to each other if they wanted.

Almost immediately, Gamera, Futsuka, and Fishel found each other in that field, alive. They also saw Rifindio.

"Senior? How can there be a winner? All four chosen are still alive," someone immediately asked, puzzled. He voiced out the question in everyone’s minds.

The kid put his hand on his chin, speaking. "What is the problem with them being alive?"

"This..." The guy was taken aback. "Don’t we need to kill the chosen if we want the marks?"

The kid looked down, shrugging. "Kill the chosen? I don’t remember saying that you must kill the chosen to acquire the marks. Here, these were my exact words when I explained the rules earlier:"

"First, and the most obvious, the only way you can become a Universe Owner is if you acquire all eight marks. Rifindio has four, and Fishel has two. Gamera and Futsuka have one each."

The kid smiled. "Where exactly did I say you need to kill the chosen to do that. There were other ways." At the same time, he thought, ’Well, I didn’t really expect someone could acquire the marks without killing, though.’

At that moment, Gamera, Fishel, and Futsuka remembered something. The moment they were bitten! Almost unconsciously, they looked in Rifindio’s direction, the Demon Bat, who was in his humanoid form at the moment.

The kid waved his hand again, and Rifindio began to float upwards, stopping in front of the kid. "Senior..."

The kid nodded. "My name is Victor Rampel. At the moment, your Universe Owner, Triaglia, is my disciple. If you accept the role of the new Universe F956 Owner, that means you will also be my disciple. Do you accept?"

"Hey, he is my disciple, you know?!" Yet, from below, a big Black and White Bird complained. Kentucky just had to intervene.

’He must have a death wish...’ Everyone thought at the same time.

Rean, Roan, and Celis didn’t know what to say. The bird hated danger, and yet, he seemed to attract it on purpose.

The trio looked away, ignoring Kentucky. "We don’t know who he is. We have never seen this bird before."

Kentucky’s mouth twitched. "Hmph!" Then, he returned his attention to the kid. "I saw him first! I trained him so he would become what he is today!"

Rifindio felt helpless. From the looks of it, he would have a dead master very soon.

The kid, however, didn’t seem angry with Kentucky’s intervention. "Is that so? Hum... this is complicated. There is a pact we need to make if he is to become the next Universe Owner. What if I say this is for his own future? As a master, you wouldn’t want him to lose such an opportunity, right? Besides, it is not like you can’t see or interact with him anymore."

"Oh, then that’s fine." Kentucky let go.

That easy? Why did you even speak then?

Well, the kid quite liked Kentucky’s straightforward nature. "Hahaha! Good. So, how is it? Your name is Rifindio, right? Will you accept this arrangement?"

Rifindio was just about to accept when suddenly, someone else spoke down below.

"I can’t accept it..."

Eyes turned in the voice’s direction. It was Fishel, the angel. His expression was dark, hatred obvious in his eyes. "This selection was bullshit! It had nothing to do with one’s abilities! Those restrictions you put on us obviously helped more this piece of shit bat than anyone else. Look at him, a puny Space-Time Realm Initial Stage Demon Beast! He would never have beaten any of us, other chosen, on equal ground!"

Victor narrowed his eyes. Different from Kentucky, who carried absolutely no ill will in his words earlier, the Angel was obviously the other way around. "No wonder you were selected by your Universe Owner to be the chosen. It’s not as if there aren’t other selfish angels, but an extreme case like yours is truly rare. But, are you sure you want to challenge my decision?"

The kid, Victor, released a tiny bit of his pressure, and Fishel was instantly slammed against the ground. Nonetheless, he didn’t give up. He didn’t want to simply lose all his memories after being sent out of the Golden Palace either. He paid too much to get here. "Curse you! I-I do not ac-accept it!"

The pressure increased, but the angel refused to let go.

*Vup!*

Yet suddenly, the pressure disappeared, much to Fishel’s surprise. He got up, looking at the kid above.

Victor pondered a bit, glancing at Rifindio before looking at the rest of the experts. Finally, he got an idea. "Alright. I will admit that due to the rules of this test, Rifindio ended up in an advantageous position, even though that wasn’t the plan."

"I could say that the cultivation world isn’t fair and all that shit, but I’m having fun here, so why give it another try? Hahaha!" Victor said.

Rifindio was sent down once again, and he bitterly smiled at the twins’ group. Obviously, things took a turn they didn’t want, and Roan, especially, didn’t seem very happy with Victor’s sudden decision.

As expected, other than the twins’ group, everyone else was excited to hear they could get another chance. The only question was what Victor intended to have them do to decide it.

*Vup!*

Suddenly, an egg appeared in mid-air, countless natural elemental runes shimmering on its shell.

The Universe Owner on the altars immediately recognized the thing, but none of them spoke.

’No, that is not an egg...’ Rean immediately thought. ’There is no life. That thing just looks like an egg, but it is something else.’

"This is something necessary for you to become a Universe Owner. It is called the Universe Root Egg," Victor explained. "Normally, I would help you absorb it. However, I thought of a good use for it. I will let it select its owner, and it is up to you to attract its attention. As to how you do that, that’s your problem, not mine. The only rule is that no fight is allowed. You may begin."