As soon as the four regrouped, Basil the guild master sighed heavily.
"You two have successfully passed the test. So here are your real cards."
He passed the two black cards to the couple, bearing four stars, as well as two black dog tags with four stars—meaning they are just below the five-star level. They could have been given the gold card, but doing so would raise a commotion. Even for someone of his standing, it was impossible, and the couple knew it.
"To further cement your rank, you should immediately take on a high-grade mission—for example, clearing a high-level dungeon," Basil suggested.
The couple, who were thinking the same thing, did not oppose it.
"Not bad," Lilith said as she stored the cards into her spatial domain, and the couple wore the black dog tags with four stars engraved on them.
Together, the four left the special training ground. The adventurers were waiting impatiently for them. The guild master announced the results and their grades. Some whistled, some seemed envious, while some were jealous. The guild master declared that if someone wished to see the video of the test, they could access it anytime by paying, of course—one gold coin. The most curious immediately paid to see the test.
Basil, who had earned thousands of gold coins in an instant, had gold coins shining inside his eyes. He licked his lips like a snake flicking its tongue.
The couple was seeing a new side of him—a snake that swallows gold.
Elfie felt like massaging her temple as she thought, 'Here we go again!' She was not shocked by this result, as it was exactly his way of doing things. She heaved a sigh before turning to face the couple.
"Will you be taking your first mission immediately, or will you postpone it until tomorrow?"
"Let's come back tomorrow morning. We shall celebrate our success," Gabriel responded while looking at his woman. The latter nodded.
"Okay. To take a mission, you must go to the upper floor."
"Thank you."
Gabriel and Lilith left the guild shortly afterward, but not before Lilith mouthed to Elfie, 'Let's fight some more later.'
Elfie chuckled. Even though she knew the demon girl was using her as a sharpening stone, she didn't find it annoying. She wished to fight her again.
Outside the guild, the couple, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves, did the same thing they had done when arriving that morning. They decided to stroll around.
Meanwhile, in the headquarters of the holy church, on the highest level, was the room of the special envoy.
He sat by the window, overlooking the scenery below. Like ants, those inferior beings moved—no, they crawled around like bugs. He wished to eradicate them. This world should only have pure beings such as himself.
As his thoughts began to take a darker turn, he shook his head to focus on the mission assigned to him by the supreme leader. Perhaps if he performed well and managed to bring this person back, that person would bestow upon him her smile. The last time he saw her smile was when the other supreme leader was present and hadn't been led astray by that accursed demonic woman.
Well, come to think of it, his target of observation strangely shared the same name as that person. 'Huh! Nah, there's no way,' he thought.
He decided to throw those distracting thoughts away to focus on his mission.
'How to better observe my target? By being closer, I think. Maybe I should disguise myself, register as an adventurer, and observe them?' He pondered for a moment before deciding it was the right course of action. He knew those cunning demons. The one sent to observe the female demon would probably think the same thing, so he had better act faster. Besides, he had just received the news that the couple had unexpectedly chosen the special method to jump in ranks. They had become black-rank adventurers—the first to jump quickly in ranks in the last half century.
He decided to take a shortcut as well. Immediately after making his decision, he used the Light element to alter his appearance. Shedding his angel race features, his golden hair turned brown, his eyes turned light green, and his handsome appearance became milder. He hid his strength down to Life Rank 13. Nobody would identify his true identity. Ready, he decided to head to the guild and register.
In another location in the city, in a villa owned by the demon's envoy, he was also thinking the same thing. He decided to disguise himself as well, masking his demonic traits. He, too, would infiltrate the guild, register, and secretly observe the couple. Each had their own agenda and acted to complete it.
Little did either envoy know that they would soon cross paths—and that the couple they sought to observe was far more dangerous than either anticipated.