The Final Test

The other hunters all turned to look at him.

"The s-statue! Look at the statue! "

It has a mischievous smile on its face.

It looked as if the statue was overjoyed because he was being worshipped.

Jarred rose slowly, his gaze fixed on the statue. Fortunately, the statue did not shoot a beam.

"Was it a success?"

"I think so."

"YEESS!!"

The hunters began yelling their excitement as they stood one by one.

"We did it."

Jarred exhaled a sigh of relief.

This test, as he had suspected, has rules. They will undoubtedly survive if they follow it without making any mistakes.

'This is just the beginning.'

This test had not yet been finished because only the first commandment had been accomplished.

RUMBLE!

The ground rumbled unexpectedly.

The hunters' expressions hardened as the statue began to stand up.

'As I suspected.'

His deduction was proven true once more.

"What the hell, wasn't it over yet?"

"No way! It can't be!"

The other hunters had been crying tears of pleasure up until that point, but when they discovered what had happened, they all froze like statues.

The statue of the demon king eventually stood up.

"What should we do, Mr. Jarred?"

THUD!

"Huh?"

They looked up and noticed that the statue had begun to move.

THUD!

The statue moved closer to them.

THUD!

The statue was getting closer to them little by little.

Mike, who had been cursing at him moments before, began to question what to do.

"What should we do next, Mr. Jarred?"

The other hunters were adopting a sorrowful expression as if they were about to cry.

Jarred was their only hope at the time.

"Praise the King!"

"..."

The other hunters were listening to him quietly.

Jarred was deep in contemplation, attempting to predict what he would do to overcome the next obstacle.

Jarred had a flashback to all the statues.

He swiftly turned his head to face the statues.

"Some instruments are being held by the statues."

The hunters' attention is swiftly drawn to the statues.

"How is the statue holding an instrument of any matter?"

Mike inquired of Jarred since he was intrigued.

"To praise the king means to express our admiration for him such as through song."

They were listening to Jarred quietly.

"M-me! Let me try it!"

Wendy was the one who was terrified until she volunteered to sing.

"Are you certain about this?"

Mike was worried.

"My singing is something I am confident about."

Wendy began to sing.

THUD!

Moving closer to them, the statue kept moving.

"You're our king, our great king. hmm... hmm."

Only Jarred among the hunters believed there was something odd with it.

'This is not right.'

Wendy gave it her all while singing. The chamber started to echo with the sound of her voice.

THUD!

The statue came to a halt in front of Wendy.

"You're doing a great job, Ms. Wendy."

The statue remained still as if it had been consumed by the song.

The noises in the room had died away, leaving only Wendy's voice to be heard.

Wendy stopped singing and smiled as she looked back to see the hunters.

The statue's visage then grew furious.

Wendy had ceased worshipping the king, which was the cause.

RUMBLE!

The statue began to raise its right foot in the direction of Wendy.

"Ms. Wendy, run!"

Wendy swiftly drew her attention back to the statue, where he could see its foot approaching from above her.

THUD!!

SPLATTER!

The loud noise echoed across the room.

"KYAAAAAAAAAKKK!"

Ashley let out a clearly audible scream.

When the statue lowered its leg, it revealed a gory mess of Wendy.

Other hunters started to tremble and cry in terror.

The statue's visage was filled with utter fury.

"Let's run!"

Mike made a suggestion and swiftly fled.

The hunters scattered as they move away from the statue.

Jarred and Shaine were running alongside each other.

Jarred turned to look at the scene of Wendy's murder scene. He hurriedly diverted his look away. He couldn't handle witnessing such a horrible scene.

THUD!

The statue, who had been enraged up until that point, abruptly changed its countenance. The statue smiled strangely as if he was having fun trampling Wendy.

When the hunters noticed the smiling face on the statue, they started screaming.

THUD!

The statue kept moving in the direction of the hunters.

Jarred suddenly remembered the second commandment.

'Praise the King.'

He remembered a statue nearby clutching an instrument.

While they were running, Jarred pulled Shaine to the statue and stood beneath it.

Jarred held his breath and raised his head to stare at the statue.

Nothing had changed at all.

'Did I make a mistake?'

He muttered to himself, wondering what he had done wrong.

Jarred dashed away from the statue, leaving Shane behind.

He wanted to be able to view his surroundings clearly because he might have missed something.

The statue started to play the instrument as soon as he left Shane behind.

"If we stay together, we'll both die."

Jarred just smiled while telling Shaine to ease her worry.

"J-Jarred..?"

Her tears stream down her cheeks.

Buuup... Buuup... Buuup...

It is played by the statue that holds the trumpets.

Jarred then realized that in order for the statue to play the instrument, one needs only one person.

"Everyone, you must go to the statue holding an instrument."

Jarred's voice was heard by all of the remaining hunters.

"!!"

A spark of hope found its way into the hunters' eyes.

They dashed towards the statue, which was carrying an instrument.

When Joe approached the statue holding the harp, the statue began to strum it.

Piing.. Pong.. ping..

A piece of lovely music began to play.

"Run to the statue with a musical instrument!"

Hunters dashed towards the statue holding an instrument.

The statue that was carrying an instrument started to play when they arrived at their specific places. The drums started to beat, and the statue holding the violin began to pluck its strings with bows.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

Jarred had spent the entire time searching for a statue that held an instrument, which is why he was so exhausted.

In the meantime, the statue of the demon king kept moving in their direction.

THUD!

The demon king statue turned around and started chasing Jarred as soon as everyone got to their respective positions.

THUD!

Only Jarred remained unprotected by the music-playing statues. The demon king statue's fury was clearly directed entirely at Jarred.

Jarred looked everywhere but couldn't see a statue holding an instrument.

"Oh sh*t!!"

Jarred spat out a cuss as his gaze met the demon king statue.

THUD!

He was running so hard that his heart was about to burst. His back was already drenched in sweat.

Jarred's enraged gaze fell on the stone statue.

"No! That's not the one!"

Jarred, who had been staring at the statue of the demon king. He was taken aback by Joe's shout, so he quickly turned to face the statue after quickly turning his head.

"Ahh!!"

When he turned to face the statue, he saw that it was carrying a shield rather than a musical instrument, which was unfortunate.

THUD! THUD!

The statue of the demon king was moving swiftly and closely towards him. In no time at all, the gap between the two decreased.

"Jarred, dodge it!"

Shaine, who was trembling in fear and couldn't walk because her knees didn't have any strength at all, screamed and warned Jarred.

Jarred who was beneath the statue that holds a shield, began to lift it up, and the demon king statue raised its leg ready to step on Jarred.

At the same time, both statues started to put the shield down and the legs to flatten Jarred.

"Kyaaaak!"

Shaine screamed.

Fortunately, because Jarred desires to live, he miraculously dodges the attacks from the statues.

The shockwaves from both hits sent him flying off into the distance.

Blood was pouring from his head, indicating that his forehead had been ripped open by the shockwaves.

At first, he didn't notice that he was sent flying beneath the statue that held neither weapons nor instruments.

He didn't have any more energy to move.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

He had such irregular breathing. He forced his body to flip up, facing the ceiling.

As he glanced at the statue, it opened its lips, and a lovely song came forth and filled the room.

la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

He knew at that point that a song could be utilized to honor the king. Just like Wendy did.

The crumpled expression of the demon king statue began to return to its emotionless form.

All of the statues holding instruments played a beautiful melody.

When the song finished, the statue of the demon king turns around and returns to his throne.

THUD!

THUD!

The statue settled into his seat and pretended that nothing had happened up until this point and that everything that had.

THUD!

"Is it all over?"

Ashley inquired, her eyes welling up with the residue of her emotions.

"..."

The hunters were exhausted and had no energy left in their bodies.

Shaine forced herself to move forward even if she lacked the energy to do so and head toward Jarred. When she discovered Jarred, who was hurt, she treated him right away.

Drip. drip. drip.

Blood dripped from Shaine's nose. That was a sign that she had reached the limit of her mana.

Jarred saw Shaine's pale face due to her shortage of mana.

You may now stop, Ms. Shaine; I'm fine now.

"B-but..."

Jarred looked at her and signaled for her to stop.

"I appreciate it."

Hunters looked at them with sad expressions on their faces.

At this point, only five of the nine hunters have survived. At the time, none of them felt like celebrating.

It was then.

CREAAAK!

The door behind them slowly opened.

"Are we finally going to go out?"

They had no idea that the test had not yet been completed.

RUMBLE!

The two statues close to the door began to move and formed an "X" with their swords.

"W-what?!"

The hunters were taken aback and stunned.

RUMBLE...!!

An odd noise could be heard emanating from the middle of the room.

The hunters' gazes were drawn quickly to the center.

A stone table rose from the ground and came to a halt after a couple of steps.

"What exactly is that?"

"It appears to be an altar."

The hunters were on high alert as soon as Jarred said.

The person who rescued them from the two crises that they had experienced was not some high-ranking hunter, but a mere E-rank hunter, Jarred Rivera, who used to be the butt of their jokes most of the time.

Joe approached the altar and discovered another rune language.

"Prove your devotion to the king."

When Joe read it, the other hunters were perplexed.

The last commandment.'

Jarred mumbled to himself.

The remaining hunters' attention was swiftly drawn to Jarred.

"What should we do next, Mr. Jarred?"

"If it hadn't been for Mr. Jarred, all of us would have been..."

The hunters had the same thought. Jarred's actions saved their lives.

Joe, who was standing near the altar, climbed up.

A ball of flames emerged out of nowhere.

Poof.

"What exactly is this?"

Joe was befuddled.

The other hunters mumbled something about the situation as they were confused as well.

"I think we should go there."

Jarred proposed that they go to the altar as well.

Jarred assisted Shaine in walking because she had drained her mana and didn't have much strength left.

The other hunters followed.

When they had all arrived and climbed up to the altar. Another ball of flames appeared around them at the same time.

Poof. Poof. Poof. Poof.

They were all surprised and scared at the same time.

RUMBLE!!