The pitch-black void slowly faded away.

A cave came into view, seen through the eyes of the millipede.

There were no memories of days past, no fragments of its hunt or its life. Instead, Aren's consciousness was dragged straight into a single, specific moment. In the darkness of the cave, three figures floated at a distance.

Elton stood there, wings folded. Beside her was another angel, silent and still. And before them all stood a man shrouded entirely in pitch-black darkness.

He had no visible features. No face. No shape beyond a vague humanoid outline. Just pure darkness.

When he spoke, his voice reverberated through the cave, and with each word, the temperature dropped.

"Have you gotten rid of him?" the figure asked.

Elton immediately bowed her head.

The dark figure frowned.

"We cannot allow his presence here," he said coldly. "If you do not remember, he is a threat to the structure of the trials we have created. You must end his life."

Elton lifted her head, a grim expression on her face.

"My lord, despite my efforts, I have failed," she replied. "I am bound by the limits of the trials. I cannot harm him directly. And whatever I throw at him, he survives."

The figure scoffed.

"You threw a simple wolf at a threat like that?" he said. "That was not a serious attempt."

He raised his hand.

The entire cave illuminated at once, light flooding the darkness and revealing the millipede curled at the edge of the chamber, its massive body coiled and waiting.

"The threat is not yet strong enough," the figure continued. "Get rid of him before things begin to go wrong."

Then he vanished.

The second angel disappeared as well, leaving only Elton behind.

She turned her gaze toward the millipede and flew closer, her feet touching the ground lightly. She stretched out her hand, and the millipede lowered its head beneath it.

Her voice was calm.

"You will do something for me," she murmured.

She sent an image straight into the creature's mind.

Aren.

"Get rid of this human."

The millipede did not hesitate. It lifted its head and immediately began burrowing into the ground, disappearing into the earth.

The memory ended.

Aren's consciousness snapped back into his body.

He sucked in a sharp breath, sweat running down his skin as his chest rose and fell heavily. A deep frown formed on his face before he could even fully process what he had seen.

"So it was her…" he muttered. "They want me dead."

His hands trembled slightly as he clenched them.

"But why?"

The words of the dark figure echoed in his mind. Threat, interference, structure of the trials.

Aren stared at his hands.

"What kind of threat could I possibly be to beings like that?" he whispered.

It made no sense.

He wasn't special. He wasn't chosen. He wasn't blessed by some god, so why were they so invested in killing him?

He sat there in silence for a few seconds, thinking, searching for answers, but nothing came.

Finally, he clenched his fists and tightened his jaw.

"Whatever the reason is," Aren said quietly, "I won't let them see my end."

He raised his gaze, eyes burning with resolve.

"This is my second chance at life."

"There's no way I'm dying again."

Even if it meant defying the beings who ran the trials. Even if it meant standing against angels.

"I'll do whatever it takes to stay alive."

Despite the fact that he had just realized someone wanted to kill him, he decided to play it cool for the time being. There was no reason to worry, because they couldn't directly hurt him from what they said.

All he had to do was ensure that he got stronger as fast as he could. That way, he would be able to fight against everything that they threw at him.

Aren leaned back against the wall, pulling up the system screen to see what changes were there.

[Name: Aren Raze]

[Class: ###]

[Type: Shadow]

[Tier: SSS]

[Level: 10]

[Soul Fragments: 100/2000]

[Soul Energy: 1500]

[Strength: 18]

[Speed: 18]

[Defense: 12]

[Constitution: 12]

[Intelligence: 19]

[32 free stat points]

[Skills: Consume, Summon, Shadow Sense]

As his gaze went down the screen, something showed that he didn't expect, and that was his tier. He had gained his tier after reaching level ten.

"SSS?" he muttered in shock, confusion written all over his face. He had never heard of such a tier before. But it had S in it, three to add.

Aren was not dumb. It wasn't hard to put one and two together.

"Could this be higher than S tier? Is that even possible? If I'm higher than S tier, then why didn't it show when I first awakened?"

He asked many questions, but there was no one to answer them for him.

"If this is actually higher than S, then this is great," he said, clenching his fist hard. His eyes shifted into those of someone who had just gained a treasure.

"I might be the only one with this tier. I might actually be able to become the strongest in the trial. Then that way, the angels can't kill me," he said in happiness, but then he paused, realizing something crucial.

"Could they be after my life because I am a triple S? Is that what they meant by threat?" he asked himself. His anger started rising as he thought about it.

"All my life, I have been looked down upon and beaten up because I was weak and useless. Now the one time that I have been favored, the one time that I was given the opportunity to become strong, they want to kill me for it." Aren was already fuming. He grew more angry at the angels and those that wanted him dead.

"I'll not let anyone stop my rise. I'll crush every person that stands in my way," he said while clenching the air. "Let's see how far I can go." He added as a smile formed on his face.

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