Given the circumstances at hand, the Kingdom's necessary countermeasures will most likely be execution. It is a countermeasure commonly used in Zorel to prevent the enemy's schemes from falling through.
Ding!
System Prediction.
Possible Odds:
Trial or concealment.
Final Decision:
Execution is the most likely outcome.
Probability of Survival: 17.4%.
...Final Advisory,
...…Run!
Sai's jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing as the alleyway seemed to grow darker. The shadows twisted into specters of his impending doom, and his lips curled grimly.
As Sai strolled on, the alley grew darker. A tremendous amount of fog filled the alleyway.
Sai halted—alarmed.
He looked back, only to realize that the entrance through which he had entered had vanished. Nothing remained except a dark layer of night and fog.
Sai looked forward, now even more alarmed, but it was the same on the other side of the alleyway.
Sai knew something was fishy.
The alleyway's surroundings had shifted into nighttime in broad daylight. It was as though he had stepped into another dimension.
Sai was damn sure this wasn't magic—otherwise, he wouldn't have been trapped inside it.
Just then, Sai's heart skipped a beat, pounding rapidly as he sensed a dark, cold, dreadful presence lurking within the shadows.
The feeling disturbed him deeply.
Sai felt as though someone familiar was nearby, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"AAAGHHHHHHHH!"
Suddenly, a distant scream echoed from the shadowy edge of the alleyway.
Within the dark solitude, two blurry figures slowly came into view.
Sai, now fully alert and on guard, crept closer—one careful step after another—moving with precise silence.
As he cautiously approached the unknown figures, the system applications and holographic windows vanished into thin air the moment he took his first step.
The distant images became clearer and clearer with every step Sai took toward them. His eyebrows furrowed while his heart pounded heavily with curiosity.
What could have possibly produced that noise?
And why?
Maybe it was some random thug trying to extort money from a passerby… or perhaps two kids fighting deep within the dark corner.
Countless thoughts swarmed Sai's mind as he crept closer.
Then—
Sai's movement came to an abrupt halt.
His eyes widened in horror.
His dark pupils trembled with pure terror as he gazed upon the dreadful scene before him.
A six-foot-tall hooded figure stood silently with one arm raised high. Gripped within its gauntleted hand was the half-decayed body of a human being.
The corpse's skull-like face hung open as a beautiful stream of green energy flowed out from its mouth, spiraling directly into the gauntlet.
Dark red holographic screens, similar to Sai's own system overlays, revolved around the hooded figure.
On one of the floating screens, different written stats were displayed.
Life Force Drainage: 98% Near Completion.
A Remnant of the Dark Lord ——
Voice of Our Diviner ✓
Locked
Locked
Locked
It suddenly dawned on Sai that the information written on the figure's system board wasn't displaying physical stats.
"IT'S A LIST!!!" Sai shouted, finally realizing that the 98% shown on the system overlay wasn't a stat, but an ongoing installation process—one that was almost complete.
The hooded figure was extracting a man's soul from his body in order to complete some kind of list.
And whatever that list was going to be used for…
It sounded like very bad news.
Sai instantly lunged toward the cloaked man.
Yet with every step he took, the distance between them seemed to stretch farther and farther apart, as though the hooded figure existed in a completely different location.
Still, Sai pushed forward.
He just needed to make sure the loading process was canceled.
Life Force: 99% Near Completion.
Now only a few steps away from the hooded figure, Sai reached out his right arm as a system layout appeared before him.
His arm became swallowed by the holographic interface as he swiftly pulled forth his Crimson Blue sword from within it.
Sai, now consumed by a dangerously distorted rage, tightened his grip around the blade.
"YOU'RE...…NOT...…GETTING—"
Sai growled, positioning the sword horizontally through the air, fully prepared to strike.
"...…AWAY WITH THIS!!!"
Sai roared as he thrust his sword toward the hidden figure.
But it was already too late.
Soul Drainage Complete: 100%.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Sai screamed as his sword closed in on the hooded figure.
Then—
Another system application belonging to the hooded figure suddenly intercepted the blade just inches away from its owner, as though it had been orchestrated beforehand.
Just like Sai's Tier System, the application swallowed the sword whole.
Then, with terrifying speed and brute force, the blade was launched back out of the system interface and hurled directly toward Sai at nearly twice the speed at which he had thrown it.
Sai was both baffled and shocked.
The figure's Tier System possessed the exact same properties as his own.
It swallowed his sword as though the weapon had belonged to it from the start.
"What the…?!"
Sai had never known his system was capable of doing something like this.
If he had used this same move against Von and Wraith earlier, maybe he wouldn't have needed Miss Bramble to save him.
"System—!"
Before Sai even realized it, he found himself inside a world of endlessly moving codes, encoding and decoding at incomprehensible speed.
Far too fast for an ordinary human eye to perceive.
But Sai was no longer an ordinary human.
He could see the codes vividly.
Within this meta-forum, time itself did not move.
Therefore, Sai could converse with the Tier System for as long as he wished without even a single second passing in reality.
It was a strategic domain—one that allowed him to think and plan whenever he was cornered.
Amidst the flowing streams of code, a massive Crimson Blue screen overlay suddenly materialized.
Sai stood there, eyebrows furrowed and lips curled as he stared at it.
"SYSTEM!"
"YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!"
"FIRST OF ALL—THERE ARE MORE OF YOU?!"
"AND SECONDLY! WHERE THE HELL WAS THAT CRAZY MOVE JUST NOW WHEN I WAS GETTING PUMMELED BY MY OWN SWORD A FEW HOURS AGO?!"
Sai casually dragged his palm down his face in frustration.
A stream of codes leaked into the system overlay before decoding themselves into words.
An artificial voice echoed in response.
This was the first time Sai had ever heard the system speak aloud.
Usually, it only communicated through written algorithms and decoded text.
But this time was different.
Sai knew his system was evolving—
He just hadn't expected it to evolve this quickly.
The Host's questions will be answered systematically.
"ABOUT TIME!" Sai exclaimed in annoyance.
Addressing the Host's first question:
There are currently no known Tier Systems besides the Host's own. As a matter of fact, the existence of another external Tier System is highly unlikely, with a calculated probability of 0.001%.
The Tier System is the result of a software anomaly synchronized with the Host's psychological profile. It can influence thoughts and behavioral patterns. Therefore, the existence of another similar system is logically overruled.
Sai looked genuinely confused.
"Influencing my… you know what, forget it."
Sai waved the thought away while irritably brushing his hair aside.
"Your calculations are obviously wrong, by the way."
"CAUSE A HUGE ASS GUY WITH A TIER SYSTEM IS LITERALLY OUT THERE!"
Sai pointed aggressively toward his left.
"GIVE ME SOMETHING MORE VALID TO WORK WITH HERE!"
This is the only answer available to the Host's question. No other sources indicating the existence of such entities have been detected.
Sai slapped his palm against his face in disappointment.
"Well, can't you just hack it or something?!" Sai asked brazenly.
More streams of code flowed into the massive screen before decoding once again.
The System cannot access entities beyond its awareness.
"How does that even—?!"
Sai stopped midway through his sentence, letting out a heavy sigh as his palm returned to his face.
"Well… you can at least do the same thing his system just did to my sword!"
After a brief pause, a beeping sound echoed from the overlay.
Beep. Bop.
Affirmative.
The system's intellectual voice responded calmly.
Suddenly, Sai's surroundings shifted.
He was back in the deserted alley.
Just as expected—
Nothing had changed.
The sword continued slicing through the atmosphere, swimming violently through the air as it sped toward him.
Yet Sai didn't waver.
He could have caught the blade himself, but he chose not to.
For once, he actually had faith in his system.
Something he almost never did.
Trusting another person was already difficult enough for him—let alone trusting a non-living entity.
But Sai understood one thing clearly:
If he wanted to unlock the hidden potential of the Tier System…
He would have to trust it.
Then—
Just four centimeters away from Sai, the sword vanished into a Crimson Blue holographic screen.
A slight smirk formed at the corner of Sai's lips.
He couldn't help but grin lightly.
"Nice one," Sai muttered in satisfaction.
Then his expression darkened almost instantly.
With a deafening stare and piercing gaze locked onto the mysterious hooded figure—
Sai's shadowed face grew cold.
And in a dark, subtle voice, Sai uttered:
"...MY TURN..."