Alaric frowned.
The challenge of truthfulness? What was that? Did it mean they had to tell everything to that ugly being?
One of the candidates spoke up, his voice wary. He didn't want to anger that humanoid creature.
"'What do you mean? And more importantly… Who are you?"
Silence.
The humanoid creature blinked lightly, glancing around at the candidates who awaited his answer with apprehension.
Eventually, after half a minute, he curved his red lips.
"I'm a demon."
…A demon?
No surprise.
Anyone here already knew that. It seemed the demon had either misunderstood the candidate's question or was implying that a demon wouldn't answer any question unless it wanted to. But actually, no one here wanted to ask again. They should listen to what the demon would say.
The demon chuckled.
"Listen carefully… I'll say it just once."
He slowly raised his slender, ghostly finger, pointing north, where countless fiends were rampaging.
Damn! Why did they only notice those fiends now? It was too much—they could not count them, and with that number, those fiends could easily smash a fortress.
All the candidates stared at them, their faces clearly scared. Did they already feel regret for stepping through this gate? Surely, most of them did.
Deeply remorseful.
The demon rested his back on the broken shell of the egg comfortably while observing the candidates' distorted expressions, smiling. Then he spoke with an excited voice.
"They won't attack you guys, don't worry… or maybe not."
All the candidates just grimaced at the demon's answer. Yeah, it was hard to believe in a demon. They were liars and unkind.
The demon played with his long nails and said,
"From now on, the challenge will begin. Before that, I'll ask you guys some questions."
The candidates gulped, waiting anxiously for the demon's questions. Meanwhile, the slave, for some reason, felt a bit more excited than nervous — a strange feeling in this situation.
"If I ask you to throw yourselves into the fiends, are you afraid of the dead? Even a little?"
"Say it… I'll carve your answer into my memory… and remember one thing: tell the truth — the deep truth of your mind."
He observed all the candidates again.
"Your answer will decide the rule of the first challenge or ... not."
Silence again.
All the candidates drowned in their own thoughts. They understood the hidden meaning behind the demon's words. Two outcomes could happen.
First, if they said they weren't afraid of the death when charging into the rampaging fiends… uh, they were surely liars. If a liar said, "What do you mean? Huh? That trash can't harm me — we could smash them in pieces,"...
If so, what would happen? Whether the demon would say everybody to lunge in the fiend and die afterward?
Second case: following what the demon had said, they must speak the truth in their minds, but if so… whether that demon…
Applause!
"I told you guys… speak the truth… just truly…''
Yes! Tell the truth. Don't overthink. That was the goal of the challenge.
"I'm afraid."
"Me too."
"Sir demon, I'm scared too."
As a snowball effect, over time, most candidates admitted that they feared the fiends and the death, but a few spoke differently.
"I'm not scared!" Morris said, his voice cold.
The demon lightly rubbed his chin while assessing the muscular young man, then quietly nodded in amusement.
"That's what I mind too: I'm not afraid of it," Curry observed, studying his friend thoroughly before giving his answer. Then he glanced at his butler, hinting for him to follow.
The butler just frowned and sighed.
"Me too."
Then, a nearby guy hesitated for a moment but quickly said,
The demon chuckled and turned his ghostly eyes toward the last person, standing desolately apart from everyone else.
Everyone focused on the misfit slave.
Alaric breathed heavily, glancing at his pale palm and thinking about his answer.
However, he quickly dismissed all those complicated thoughts and distilled the final answer.
Why did he have to fear death, when in reality, death was always near him? Even at this moment, his life might not last for more than a few days. He saw himself as a dead man, and surely, a dead man could never be frightened of death.
The slave slowly looked up and lifted his lips, speaking up with an even, no hesitation voice as if all his words spouted as an instinct.
"I feel nothing."
A completely different answer but there was the same meaning, making everyone instinctively turn to look at Alaric. Even the child of the legendary clan frowned.
The atmosphere froze in silence until the demon slowly stood up and spoke up with an amused voice.
"Good… the first challenge begins."
He blinked, then directed his eyes toward the fiends in the north, his voice suddenly turning completely serious, unlike before.
All of the candidates gulped in fear, as if they already knew what was coming next.
"The second challenge lies on the other side of that swarm of fiends. Those who have declared you're not afraid… go on, prove your words. Of course, you can still stay here, even if you said you weren't scared. But that just means you admit you're a liar. And you will fail the challenge."
"And the rest of you—cowards—you can stay here too. Uh, if you want, you can still charge into the fiends. Whatever. Do what you want. I have no time for cowardly beings."
A nearby candidate spoke up in fear,
"So… what will happen to the ones who fail the challenge and stay here?"
The demon shook his head and gave the candidate a mocking, humiliating look. Then he put on a gentle mask and answered politely,
"Failed candidates will be sent safely to the real world."
He slowly lifted his red lips and laughed loudly, making most everyone feel a chill through their spine and fear carving into their mind.
After about a minute he washed out the tear on his face and sighed in amusement.
"Is that the sweet speech you want me to say?"
Then, for the first time, the demon threw the clown mask aside and spoke in a deadly tone,
"Death… that's the fate you face!"
…
"Or not."