11 First Trial (2)

Alex wanted to protest, but respected Maxwell's decision. At least, he pretended to do so.

Keeping his eyes locked on the target, Alex slipped his hand into his pocket, maintaining enough distance to not look suspicious while also staying on guard for an unexpected surprise attack.

The teen that approached Maxwell took a quick glance at Alex before wordlessly resting his elbow on the former's shoulder. "What's going on, brother? Hanging out with this murderer won't get you anywhere."

Alex understood where he got that idea from. Looking at his attire, one could never dismiss the thought that Alex could be a murderer or a psychopath, as most of his clothing was stained with black or red blood. Some of it was fresh, while some seemed older.

"Why don't you reconsider? The person who you owe your life is probably dead," The teen formed a wry expression before morphing it into a gentle smile. "I'm sure the members of my army would love to have a new commander."

Alex, ready to scoff at any moment, could only suppress his boisterous laughter from emerging as Maxwell shook his head. The latter turned to look at his brother with uncomfortable eyes before finally opening his mouth to speak. "This is my savior, brother. This is the man who saved my life."

Maxwell's brother formed an expression of disgust as he turned his attention towards Alex. "A kid?"

"You don't look that old yourself, you know?" Alex commented, but Maxwell's brother did not respond. "Anyway, your army is impressive."

"Thanks," He responded. "Also, thanks for saving my brother."

Alex clicked his tongue inwardly as he realized Maxwell's brother's intentions. 'Such a power-hungry guy.'

The reason for Maxwell's brother's sudden change in demeanor was because of Alex purposefully revealing a tiny amount of his strength. Surprisingly, a cyan glint in his eyes was all it took.

"Alex, Alex Horatius," Alex introduced himself, a subtle smile hanging on his face.

"Carl Thompson," Maxwell's brother responded. "It's nice to meet you."

As the two shook hands, Alex's eyes did not stray from the sword hung on his waist. He was ready to pull it from its sheath at any point in time.

Maxwell watched in envy as Alex quickly brought Carl into mental submission, spooking him enough to dissolve his bratty attitude. As Carl left without receiving an answer from his brother, Maxell turned to face Alex.

"How'd you do that?"

*

Demon. It was a word that lingered in Carl's mind as he staggered. His steps swayed as he struggled to maintain balance. It was as if his mind had been corrupted, or as if he had just interacted with the devil himself.

At first, he believed the boy was simply a psychopath or a chuunibyou with second-year syndrome. However, after noticing the subtle yet deep cyan glint in the boy's cold eyes, it was as if his blood had begun flowing backwards.

*

"Sometimes, you just have to scare your opponent," Alex replied with a cold expression. "Fear is a lot more resilient than one might think. It prevents idiotic decisions on the opponent's part."

"But isn't it beneficial if the opponent makes idiotic decisions?" Maxwell asked. "It's easier to dispose of someone when they don't know what they're doing."

"Dispose of… it's quite a strong phrase," Alex muttered. It seemed to him that Maxwell's ideology was different from his. "Isn't submission more beneficial?"

Maxwell was in thought for a couple of seconds but quickly responded. "Submission… if submission is more beneficial, why is Earth so messed up? Before the apocalypse, all that existed was submission, between people of superior and inferior standings. However, did that result in a better ending?"

"You're talking about democracy, not submission," Alex quickly shot back. "Of course, Earth did not have a perfect democracy, and many countries were still under dictatorship. But, what of monarchy? Look where it brought Great Britain, one of the only countries to have colonies in so many other places."

When Maxwell did not respond, Alex decided to let go of the subject. The two leaned against the wall as he observed their surroundings with great caution.

30 minutes soon passed, and a high-pitched, seemingly cute voice bombarded the ears of everyone inside the Tower of Bryxton.

A djinn/spiritual being created by a lesser demon to serve as a plaything. That was the description of the life-form tasked with managing Vancouver as a form of guide or caretaker. The djinn was a cute, furry creature with dark horns that protruded from its incredibly vast forehead.

Djinns were usually regarded as among the mid-rank species along with arch-elves and spirit commanders, but the ones ruling over zones were no more than playthings for demons. Their power was on the low end, near that of adult Chimera Cats.

'But that isn't an excuse to say they are by any means, weak,' Alex said inwardly. The djinns, despite being mere toys in Telos Dou Dromou, were the top dogs in tutorial areas, whether it be Earth or different dimensions.

Earth was by far the weakest planet raided by the Giants, which led them to send out the weakest djinns. However, despite them being incredibly weak, they could easily massacre the entire planet in a matter of seconds using their authority, [Manager of Zones].

[Hello, everyone! I am Kyl! Well, you guys already knew that, so let's get on with this! Those who are not currently in Bryxton Tower, 3 people to be exact, have just been eradicated! Boom! Now, I'm not one to keep hard workers waiting, so let me tell you something before we continue with the tutorial!]

As his words came to a sudden end, the people who had once been fighting amongst each other directed their anger at the djinn.

"Fuck you! I wanna go back home!"

"What is going on, you bastard!?"

"Mommy! Don't die!"

Everyone uttered different words, but the central idea was that they wanted this unexpected 'event' to end.

[Calm down, everyone! Now, I will explain to you what is going on! This planet has been raided by a giant, Giant! The great deities, in order to save your lives, have granted you special powers… a system! Although that system is currently locked, it will be released one month from now, so stay on the lookout!]

[Now, let's begin the next part of the tutorial! Currently, the number of humans here is 4000. Reduce it to 1000 in the next 18 hours. Go!]

After practically spitting those words out, the djinn suddenly disappeared into thin air, leaving behind particles of orange dust.

The tower was quiet for a couple of seconds before someone screamed. "Let's kill that thing! Then, we can all escape this madness!"

Someone else reinforced the person's words by screaming the following. "Yeah! We outnumber that thing by thousands! Why can't we just ambush it once it appears again?"

At this point, Alex was getting tired of their rambling. The djinn may have looked as if it were a cute house pet, but its power rivaled adult Chimera Cats, an entity not even a million humans could take on.

In reality, the number of attackers didn't even matter. Before the apocalypse, if ten people assaulted a single human, even if it were a professional boxer, he/she would eventually succumb to his/her injuries.

However, after the Giants' interference with Earth and the 'special powers' granted by deities, a single entity could immediately eradicate millions with a flick of his finger if he wished for it.

Maxwell seemed just as tired of their hopelessness as Alex, which is why he eventually stepped up to convince the others of their weakness.

"Listen!" Maxwell screamed as he stood in the center of the commotion. He approached the two initiators and struck them in the abdomens, rendering them unconscious. Alex watched from afar, a curious expression on his face as he wondered what would happen next.

The others quieted down, as Carl perked up. He quickly raised his head, and just like Alex, became excited about what was to come. Both he and Alex were leaders and watching Maxwell attempt to gain control of the crowd piqued their interest.

"You all wish for something impossible," Maxwell stated. "Haven't you guys noticed the easy-going nature of the djinn? If he were weak enough to be taken down by a bunch of humans, why would he be so confident? And, did you not witness his unexplainable actions, such as reducing the area of the barrier and killing thousands of citizens?"

The crowd was quiet. No one dared refute his words, as no argument could counter it. Their experience had been just as he had mentioned. The djinn would not be so careless as to reveal himself and act haughty, if he were not confident in being able to take them down.

"The world may seem dangerous, and you might be scared. But what will that behavior get you closer to?" He asked everyone. When no one replied, Maxwell finally unleashed his strength, stomping his foot on the ground and causing a tiny crack to appear. "Death!"

Many regained their resolve, and while some were dissatisfied by Maxwell's words, the majority weren't. And currently, among the powerless humans, numbers did matter.

Alex revealed a subtle smile at Maxwell's control over the crowd, simultaneously mocking his and the crowd's childish behavior. He knew better than anyone else the cruelty of Telos Dou Dromou, and words could not describe it.

For now, he seemed content, having gained a useful subordinate.

Suddenly, Carl burst onto the non-existent, figurative stage. He stood beside his brother, carrying a triumphant grin on his face.

"So, do we begin the massacre?" He asked the crowd, to which he was met with confused murmurs. Immediately, he bolted forward, decapitating an elderly, obese man.

As blood emerged like a geyser from the neck of the dead man, Carl returned to the figurative stage.

"1 down. Just 2999 left to go."