As soon as he emerged from the Spirit World, Abner found himself in an old library. Dozens of towering rows of shelves surrounded him, but not a single book remained. Someone had clearly emptied the place long ago.
"According to the stories Northern Region nobles pass around in private, the library is the least valuable place." Closia, who had also been teleported into the library, surveyed their surroundings before asking, "Where's Xenia?"
"She should be with our so-called 'employer.' If the four of us teleported in together and none of us landed near Baron Iris, it would look suspicious." Abner offered a brief explanation. "I don't want the organizers watching this place to notice anything wrong so soon."
Closia caught his implication. "So they only watch the nobles taking part in the trial?"
"There's no point watching servants and mercenaries. Even if they're lucky enough to survive until the Red Moon sets, they won't be teleported out of this castle. They're bound to die here." Abner sighed.
Before entering, he hadn't been certain why the Devil behind the scenes had organized the trial. But now that he stood inside Observer Castle, it would be a disgrace to his Sequence if he, a Dominator of Mysteries, still couldn't see it.
The trial, held every twelve years, was clearly meant to provide enough sacrifices for a ritual!
What ritual? The experiment that had produced five female survivors tainted by a Sefirah had taken place eleven years ago, within a year of the last trial. The timing was far too convenient!
And according to the information he had gathered, someone had brought out a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact during the last trial. That was precisely why this trial had drawn an unprecedented number of participants: over a hundred, nearly as many as all