Chapter 97: Awakening His First Sin

A gigantic arm made entirely of astral mana tore out of the vortex and smashed into Arlo with raw force, sending him flying.

The moment he was sent away, the astral hand wrapped around the kneeling Aren and pulled him into the portal, which quickly closed behind them.

Everything returned to normal once more.

COUGH!

COUGH!

COUGH!

The sound of coughing emerged from the crater as a bloodied hand grasped its edge and slowly dragged itself upward.

Arlo crawled out of the crater and paused for a moment.

Then, his teeth suddenly clenched together.

His hand immediately grabbed his head as a flood of memories surged into his mind.

Horror flashed across his eyes as he fully comprehended everything those memories contained.

"What... What did I just do!?" Arlo asked in horror.

But the answer soon appeared before him.

[Congratulations, Host has awakened an incomplete power.]

[Congratulations, Host has awakened a Sin!]

[It’s okay, Arlo. Aren will live. You didn’t kill him.]

[That aside, your spatial ring and his are only a few meters away. Get them first!]

Arlo’s eyes immediately shifted toward the distance, where the two rings lay on the ground.

He instantly shot toward them, picked them up, and scanned their contents.

Just as he expected, the golden cards inside his own ring were still there.

The same was true for Aren’s ring, which also contained a massive number of cards, although only about half as many as Arlo’s.

[Now, leave the scene!] the System urged.

Arlo quickly faded away from the utterly devastated battlefield.

Not even a moment after he left, several students appeared, their gazes sweeping across the destruction as they took deep breaths, struggling to comprehend what had happened.

"What!? Just what happened here?!"

________________

"What did I do? I... I tried to kill him!"

Arlo stared at his bloodied reflection in his own eyes, his voice trembling.

"Why did I try to kill him!? For some cards?!"

Every scene and every moment of the battle continued haunting his soul. His heart grew cold, draining all warmth from his lips.

[You’re overreacting]

The System’s poker-like voice resounded within his head.

"What do you mean I’m overreacting!?" Arlo snapped. "I just tried to kill a student because of some cards! The staff will never let this slide. They’ll surely come after me for it!"

He clenched his fists.

"Forgetting that, why did I react in such a violent way?"

[It wasn’t you, Arlo! It was him.]

"Who?"

[Him! The one who tore off those people’s heads and ate their hearts. Your War Demon Devil.]

"But... but I thought he would only come out the next time I used it!?" Arlo asked.

The System’s sigh echoed inside his head.

[That’s what I thought. But now, it’s too late for that. He has fully awakened, and you have birthed a consciousness within him.]

"Can you be clearer...?"

[What I’m saying is that when you discovered the triplets’ brother could control mana while possessing the same warrior body as you, a hint of jealousy grew within you.]

[Don’t get me wrong. That feeling is completely normal.]

[But your demon... Your demon fanned those feelings into a blazing fire, causing the jealousy to swallow your entire existence.]

[In the process, it successfully obtained its own consciousness.]

[To be precise, its own Sin. The Sin of Envy!]

[Once it developed a consciousness, it reigned over yours and reappeared, determined to kill the triplets’ brother and ensure that you were the only one who possessed that power.]

[In other words, your small amount of jealousy fed it and caused it to emerge once more.]

[It wasn’t you.]

"You’re saying I got controlled by a demon?" Arlo asked, completely unable to wrap his head around the matter.

There was now another consciousness within him. And he was the one who had given it consciousness in the first place.

"Tell me... How do I get him out of my head!?" Arlo asked.

The War Demon would only drag him into endless trouble.

[You can’t. Not now that you have given him his first Sin. He is stuck with you forever.]

[But now, well... It’s your demon, Arlo. Yours.]

[One day, you will claim full control over it, and it will be yours.]

The System’s words lingered in Arlo’s mind.

He was about to respond when he suddenly lifted his head and saw a gigantic vortex appear in midair.

[I guess it’s over.]

The System’s words had barely fallen when Arlo felt a powerful pulling force seize his body.

He quickly brought out a fresh pair of clothes from his spatial ring, using his old ones to wipe the blood from his body before putting on the new clothes.

"I hope I don’t get in trouble for this..." he whispered to himself.

He was dragged upward alongside several others, and soon, they disappeared into the portal.

Once more, white light blossomed around him.

After a few moments, Arlo’s eyes adjusted to the familiar surroundings.

Everything was just as he had left it, except that the number of students present had noticeably decreased.

He scanned the area, but he couldn’t see the trio anywhere.

"Welcome back, everyone. And to those of you who managed to survive until the absolute end of the test, you all deserve a round of applause."

The speaker was none other than Mr. Ian.

His words prompted some of the students to clap, smiles appearing on their faces.

They had made it through the first test.

"Out of the 152 of you, a total of 100 failed to survive the jaws of the demons in the realm and were eliminated at the last second."

"Their cards have already been obtained, and their records have been updated."

As Mr. Ian spoke, Arlo turned his eyes toward the board.

It had changed considerably, with several new names now occupying the top positions.

"The rest of you, please come forward and show us all your cards."

One by one, the students stepped forward and handed their cards to the various staff members.

The cards were carefully counted, with perfect records being kept as the names of those who had performed well were announced.

Just like the others, Arlo also walked toward the staff and handed over his cards.

Even the staff members’ mouths dropped open when they saw the massive number of cards he had brought out.

After handing over the cards, Arlo returned to his seat and soon, the announcement began.

"In this phase of the test, we have three winners who will each be given an additional 5% to their normal percentage."

Mr. Ian spoke loudly as another hologram appeared in the hall.

"Starting with the third-best performer of this test, Frost of Class A."

He announced her name as the hologram revealed the image of a cold-looking girl with short, white hair and matching white pupils.

Immediately, everyone’s attention shifted toward the Class A group, where they quickly spotted her sitting in the first row.

"She successfully amassed a total of 700 cards, around three times the number anyone below the third rank has ever obtained!"

Sharp inhales echoed throughout the hall.

Most students hadn’t even managed to amass a hundred cards before they were called back, yet Frost had accumulated a total of 700.

That was an absurd number of cards.

Looking at the girl himself, Arlo couldn’t read her expression as she remained poker-faced.

"The second-best performer in this phase of the test is Stellan Lyon of Class A, having amassed a total of 1,020 cards!"

Mr. Ian loudly announced as the hologram changed, revealing another figure.

A young man with long green hair and matching green pupils.

[Hmm, he must be quite strong, to have amassed such an number of cards.]

The System commented and Arlo himself couldn’t help but nod.

Just like Frost, Stellan’s expression remained unreadable, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"And the undisputed first-place winner in this phase of the test is none other than a student from my class!"

Mr. Ian announced proudly, shooting a snickering grin toward the other staff members, who couldn’t help but furrow their brows in suspicion.

"A student of Class D, having amassed a total of 2,000 cards!"

He paused dramatically.

"Arlo Eclipsion!"

"WHAT!?"

"2...2000 CARDS!?"

A collective scream of shock erupted from everyone in the hall, Yet the loudest reaction came from the person sitting beside Arlo.

Quickly, the image on the hologram changed, revealing Arlo’s figure and instantly drawing the attention of every person present.

"He is Arlo Eclipsion. From Class D!?"

The same thought echoed through the minds of everyone in the hall as they stared at him dumbfoundedly.

The same could be said of the second- and third-ranked students, who both turned their fiery gazes toward Arlo, scanning him from head to toe.

"And we have the highest percentage movement ever, achieved by none other than Arlo Eclipsion!"

Mr. Ian’s voice grew louder.

"Having moved from his former initial rank of 82 to 27 on the rankings!"

This time, even the vice-chancellors’ attention was captured.

They couldn’t help but turn their gazes toward the young man, who seemed almost feminine at first glance.

"He seems a little too...feminine to have obtained such a number through battling the devils" one of them said aloud.

"Perhaps he got lucky and found a secret area where he obtained all those cards."

Clearly, they found it difficult to believe that Arlo could have amassed such a number on his own.

Aside from his extraordinary handsomeness and faint muscular build, there was nothing else that seemed particularly exceptional about him.