Ronald Shadowheart's POV
The air was heavy, charged with bloodlust, screams, and the roars of beasts. But for Ronald Shadowheart, it was just noise — static on the edge of his mind. He stood still in the chaos, his hands in the pockets of his dark coat, eyes narrowed as the world around him burned.
He watched a group of applicants desperately fighting off a trio of berserker apes. Their coordination was decent. They might've even survived.
If he hadn't already marked them as point-fodder.
He vanished in a blink, stepping through a ripple of shadow, and reappeared behind the largest ape. One slash — a clean, horizontal cut through the neck — and the beast crumpled.
The other two turned, only to be stabbed from below. Spikes of darkness erupted through the earth, impaling them like skewers.
He yawned.
"System, point count?" he asked mentally.
Ronald rolled his shoulders. "Noted."
He glanced at the sky, where the projection board showed the leaders. Xandros Darkhaven was at the top — obviously. He hadn't even tried to compete with that monster. The others were fighting like wild animals to rise in the rankings. Andrew was shining like some heroic prince. Morgana had constellations raining from the sky. It was a circus.
But Ronald?
He played the long game.
Power wasn't about being flashy. It was about fear.
Control.
Domination.
Every move he made was efficient, without waste. His Heavenly Demon System didn't favor brute force. It favored smart killing — psychological pressure, positioning, and skill usage. The more terrifying he became, the more power it fed him.
He could feel it even now. Every kill... every flicker of fear in the eyes of others...
He chuckled. "Minor demon? Cute."
A ripple in the air pulled his attention. A girl from the Iron Serpent Sect charged him with a flaming spear.
"You're Ronald, right? Sorry, but I need those points."
Ronald didn't say a word.
He just raised his hand.
Her body froze mid-air. She blinked, confused. Then she screamed — a shadow hand had gripped her leg from below, pulling her into the ground like quicksand.
"Sorry," he said, barely glancing at her. "You're too early in the story to challenge me."
He walked away before she even fully sank.
The more they hated him, the stronger he got.
But despite all this… one name haunted the back of his mind:
Xandros.
He'd barely gotten a good look at him, but that pressure... that moment when everyone dropped to their knees?
Ronald had faced death gods, monsters, corrupted void beasts — but that felt like standing before a truth too large to exist.
Even his system had panicked.
"System, are you sure... he's unscannable?"
"Shit."
He exhaled slowly, then looked toward the arena center, where the giant gate now groaned open.
And out stepped it.
The King-class Beast.
Fifty meters tall. Skin like black stone. A roar like thunder. Even the air bent around it.
For the first time, Ronald felt his instincts pull him back.
"System... assess survival odds if I face that thing alone."
<2%.>
"...Nice."
And still... a grin spread across his face.
Because now, this was finally interesting.
--- ✦ ---
Jason's POV
Jason crouched behind a broken pillar, chest heaving as he clutched a tiny vial in one hand and a smoke bomb in the other.
"This is fine. Everything is totally, totally fine," he muttered, glancing at the hellscape that was now the assessment arena.
Beasts were everywhere. Screams echoed. Someone flew overhead — he wasn't sure if they were alive or dead. Another explosion. Something growled uncomfortably close.
"Okay. Not fine."
He peeked over the rubble.
A steel-plated rhino beast the size of a truck had its horn stuck in a wall. It was roaring, trying to back out.
"System, target lock."
{Target Confirmed. Talent Grade: S. Binding initiated.}
Jason's eyes gleamed.
Binding to a beast was technically not forbidden. And his system didn't care who or what it latched onto — so long as their talent was better than his.
And let's face it — everyone's was.
{Binding Successful.}
{Rewards Unlocked:
Defense Boost x1200
Pain Tolerance x800
Energy Retention x2400
Bone Hardness x3100}
Jason shivered. The boost hit him like a truck, and for a moment, his skin felt like it was covered in steel. His vision sharpened, and his back straightened instinctively.
"Now we're cooking," he muttered, tossing a flash pellet. The beast screamed and stumbled — disoriented.
Jason flipped forward and slammed an alchemical spike into its exposed neck. A burst of blue fire exploded from the point of impact.
The beast collapsed.
<
"Yeah!" Jason punched the air. "Eat that, stats!"
But before he could even celebrate properly, the ground shook.
He froze, slowly turning his head toward the sound.
Then he saw it.
The King-class Beast had entered.
Everyone felt it. The sky dimmed slightly. Even the background noise quieted — as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Jason dropped back behind cover, mumbling, "What in the actual hell is that? That's not a beast. That's... a skyscraper with anger issues."
His system dinged again, far too cheerful for the situation.
{New Binding Target Detected: King-Class Beast}
{Talent Grade: SSS – Beyond binding recommendation}
{Warning: Binding this target may result in mental collapse, internal bleeding, or existential regret}
Jason blinked. "...Define 'existential regret.'"
{Feeling small and irrelevant in the grand scheme of cosmic design.}
"Cool. Super cool. Let's not bind that thing."
{Understood. Emergency Avoidance Protocol activated.
Evasion Buffs: +1000 for 60 seconds}
Jason bolted. No fancy combat moves. Just ran.
But as he darted between rubble and burning corpses, something strange happened. He saw others starting to gather toward the beast.
Not to run.
To fight.
Andrew Lionheart, glowing like a star. Morgana, surrounded by celestial rings. Even Ronald was inching closer, eyes shining with madness.
And at the center of it all, walking calmly like he had all the time in the world, was Xandros.
Jason stopped running. Just... watched him.
No tension. No fear. He was smiling, staff resting over one shoulder like this was just a training session.
Jason felt his heart lurch. Not in admiration. Not even in jealousy.
In curiosity.
"…Who are you?"
His system buzzed, trying to bind.
< System Status: Error
.Rebooting...Time to Recovery: 47 Hours>>
Jason shut the interface with a sigh.
"Yeah, that's about right."
And still, even as he stood there, panting and unsure of what to do next, Jason couldn't help but grin a little.
"Well... I did say I wanted to leech off the protagonist. Looks like I found the final boss instead."
--- ✦ ---
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